What pet insurance coverage does Lemonade offer?
Lemonade launched a pet insurance policy designed exclusively for cats and dogs. This company’s pet policy protects your pocket and your pet for a variety of expenses, including:
- Diagnostics. Test for health issues using a variety of diagnostics from blood tests to MRIs.
- Outpatient procedures. Help your pet get surgery or treatments that don’t require in-hospital care.
- Hospitalization and emergency care. If your pet gets rushed to the vet for a serious medical problem or needs to stay at the pet hospital, rest assured that you’re covered for that too.
- Injections and prescriptions. Pay for the medicine that can help your pet feel better and fight illness.
- Accidental injuries or sickness. For pets that get themselves in trouble, tend to their injuries from unfriendly meetings with animals or from falling after a high climb. The policy also covers pets that get sick from accidentally eating a harmful object or human food.
- Illnesses. Get vet care for your pet’s infections, vomiting, diarrhea, hip dysplasia and more.
What extra benefits and add-ons does Lemonade offer?
You can tack on a few useful options or tap into Lemonade’s animal-friendly charity program with any policy. These benefits in detail:
- Wellness. Check on your pet’s health regularly with coverage for an annual physical, parasite tests, routine bloodwork and up to three vaccines. You won’t pay a deductible for this coverage, and you’ll get up to 80% of each vet bill reimbursed.
- Extended accident and illness coverage. Pay for advanced and holistic treatments while getting the benefit of no exam fees for any covered accidents and illnesses.
- Medical advice chat. With the wellness package, you can use Lemonade’s advice chat feature to ask questions about your furry friend’s health before ever heading to the vet office.
- Giveback charity program. One of Lemonade’s standout features is that it pays forward any unused claims each year to the charity of your choice. For pet insurance, you can donate to:
- Best Friends Animal Society
- Friends of Animals (FoA)
- PAWS Chicago
- SPCAI
- The Humane Society
How much is Lemonade pet insurance?
Lemonade’s accident and illness policies start around $12 per month for young, healthy pets. That cost is half the standard cost of pet insurance for cats and nearly three times less for dogs, a result of this fintech company’s streamlined service.
You can add routine wellness coverage for around $16 to $18 per month for healthy pets, and the extended accident protection adds around $3 to $6 per month.
Lemonade pet insurance quotes
We compared quotes for these pet profiles in Georgia. Your location can significantly affect your monthly rate because of vet costs in your area. What to expect:
| Cat | Domestic shorthair | 2 years | Female | $500 | 70% | $5,000 | $10 |
| Cat | Domestic shorthair | 2 years | Female | $250 | 90% | $20,000 | $11.58 |
| Dog | Mixed breed | 2 years | Female | $500 | 70% | $5,000 | $10 |
| Dog | Mixed breed | 2 years | Female | $250 | 90% | $20,000 | $17.75 |
Which discounts can I get?
You can bundle pet and home or renters insurance for 10% off your policy, a discount that’s almost unheard of in the pet insurance world.
Pros and cons of Lemonade pet insurance
Pros
- Competitive prices. Its pet policy costs less than half what you’d typically pay for accident and illness coverage
- Vet bills reimbursed in minutes. Lemonade takes pride in its nearly instant claims reimbursement after filing your claim in its app. This is a huge benefit since most vets won’t take an insurance payment directly, leaving you to use your own money up front.
- Wellness coverage offered. Not too many companies offer wellness coverage. Lemonade offers this coverage for basic routine services nearly any pet would benefit from.
- Savings by bundling policies. You can whittle down your premium by rolling home or renters with your pet insurance, an unheard-of offering.
Cons
- Customer service is lacking. Recently, the company’s service ratings have dropped on reputable business and customer review sites.
- Senior pets can’t get coverage. If your pet is nearing an older age for its breed, you might not get coverage. For example, a dog age 10 or over could be denied a policy.
- No phone support. You can reach customer service only through the app, chat or online features.
- No dental illness coverage. You’ll pay out of pocket if your pet gets common dental illnesses like gingivitis. However, your policy will pay if your pet’s teeth are damaged in an accident.
States where you can buy Lemonade’s pet policy
Available for purchase via Lemonade’s site and mobile app, the policy is open to pet owners in 33 states across the US:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington, D.C.
- Wisconsin
Lemonade pet insurance reviews and complaints
You won’t find specific reviews or complaints about Lemonade’s pet policies because it just started offering this insurance. However, Lemonade does have mixed customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot.
As of July 21, 2020, the BBB itself rates Lemonade at a B+ for its business practices. It’s received 80 complaints from 2017 to 2020. Many of those center around the company dragging its feet on settling claims or issuing policies through its online system before canceling them a few weeks later due to a home or rental’s risk profile.
However, over 200 customers have left reviews on the BBB with an overall rating of 4.5 of 5 stars. On Trustpilot, customers rate the company at a 3.2 out of 5 stars.
Lemonade also received a 7.68 rating on the 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners complaint index. This rating is well above the national standard of 1.00, showing that Lemonade receives an above-average number of complaints. A majority of the NAIC complaints deal with its renters policies.
How do I sign up?
Breeze through the quotes process to start your policy using these steps:
- From the main homepage, click Check our prices.
- Select pet insurance when prompted and continue.
- Enter your pet’s name, type of pet and personal details for the quote.
- Answer a few extra questions about your pet.
- Receive your quote and adjust or add coverage.
- If you like what you see, accept the quote, finalize your information and provide your payment method.
- Download the app for quick policy and claims management.
What’s not covered?
Like any insurance policy, you won’t be protected for everything. Lemonade nixes protection in these instances:
- Pre-existing conditions
- Dental care, unless it’s dental damage from an accident
- Elective or cosmetic procedures
- Prescription food, vitamins or supplements
- Behavioral conditions
- Obedience training
- Breeding or pregnancy
- Neglect or preventable situations
- Cremation or burial
- Anything else that’s not related to an accident or illness
Why Lemonade strolled into pet insurance
Lemonade’s COO and co-founder Shai Winiger said his team sought to fill a gap in the pet insurance market.
“As pet parents ourselves, we found the existing options to be lacking, so we built a product for cats and dogs from the ground up. This means an insurance policy that’s short and easy to understand, and a user experience created with the pet, and their parent, at its core,” Winiger said when announcing the policy.
What makes Lemonade stand out
The insurer has the ability to approve claims on the spot, a Lemonade spokesperson told Finder.
“[Lemonade’s claim bot] AI Jim will ask you a bunch of questions, and if possible and legitimate, can review and approve claims in seconds. Otherwise, AI Jim will then transfer the claim as needed to a human claims specialist,” the spokesperson said.
Typically, insurers don’t pay vets directly, so the digital claims process can quickly pay or reimburse pet owners for any out-of-pocket costs.
Future plans for Lemonade’s pet policies?
Lemonade is working on expanding into new states across the US, a spokesperson told Finder.
“We’re excited to bring our social good-based model into new markets. We believe that this is one of the first times customers can bundle pet insurance with home or renters policies while also making an impact on causes they care about,” the spokesperson said.
Alternatives to Lemonade
