Nationwide Insurance has revalued my property without explanation

[Mike Girard]

Along with a truly bizarre threat to cancel my insurance on grounds seemingly pulled out of a hat and disclosed cryptically, Nationwide has promised that if I do manage to keep my insurance, my premium will go up because the rebuilding cost of my property is higher than the $300,000 my insurance currently covers. This is allegedly because of certain features the inspector noted that put my rebuilding cost at a whopping 440,000+.  For the record, I have a 1989 square foot, 100 yr. old rowhouse in South Philly converted into a duplex nr. Snyder and 17th. It has none of the original details as far as I'm aware. 

Nationwide seems intent on raising my premium -- which will be applied retroactively -- without the courtesy of disclosing what these special features are. Both the Nationwide agent who sold me the policy -- Terrence Gannon -- and every other agent I spoke to before accepting Gannon's bid came up with the same number, which is close to the $125 per square foot average for Philly row houses. An online calculator I used produced a similar figure.

Anyone know what's going on here? Gannon never gave me a heads up about this, even though the assessment happened over a month ago, and has not responded to my emails sent yesterday, nor has anyone official called me. Incredibly, the local Nationwide office has tasked the self-described "receptionist" with disclosing all the bad news and checking up to see if I've made the necessary improvements for staying with Nationwide and paying more for an entirely unexplained revaluation. 

I know that Nationwide is supposed to be among the best home insurance companies, but the unprofessionalism in play here, not to mention outright sleaziness, is off the charts. Based on this experience alone I truly regret having had anything to do with them and I shudder at what it's like to file a claim.

So what do I do? I want out. If I cancel my policy, am I going to have trouble finding another insurer without getting gouged? Can anyone recommend an agent that can help with this? This is really awful.