Pros Explained
- Customizable coverage: Lemonade offers a variety of add-ons that allow you to customize your plan, with coverage of services like preventative care, vet visits, and physical therapy.
- Affordable premiums: While the costs can vary, premiums start at just $10 a month.1
- Convenient mobile app: Lemonade is tech-forward, making it easy to manage your policy and file claims through an app.
Cons Explained
- Limited coverage with base plan: Although you can customize your plan with add-ons, the base plan has some gaps in coverage such as exam fees, microchipping, behavioral issues, and relevant visits.
- Extended waiting periods: There is a variety of waiting periods before coverage kicks in, including two days for accidents, 14 days for illnesses, and six months for cruciate ligament events.
- Not available nationwide: Lemonade pet insurance products are currently only available in 37 states and Washington, D.C.2
Introduction
Lemonade’s highly customizable pet insurance plans can provide well-rounded coverage for cats and dogs, especially if you take advantage of the riders. Its tech-forward approach makes it easy to manage your plan and claims entirely online.
Want to see some other great options? Check out our picks for the best pet insurance providers.
Company Overview
Headquartered in New York City, Lemonade offers insurance products across a variety of categories, including pet, life, homeowners, and car insurance. Launched in 2015, today Lemonade’s pet insurance plans are available in 37 states and Washington, D.C.32
Lemonade offers a decent amount of coverage with its illness/injury policy, and it provides multiple add-ons to let customers personalize their plans. You can even choose to add coverage for treatments specific to young pets, which could be a good way to cut down on the costs of a new cat or dog.
Available Plans
Lemonade offers a base pet insurance plan that covers many medical expenses related to accidents and illnesses. If you’re looking for more coverage, you can add a basic or advanced wellness program to your base policy to help cover preventative care costs. The basic wellness add-on (Preventative) will get you a live vet chat, which could be quite useful, but you’ll need to go with the advanced program (Preventative+) to get coverage for a more comprehensive vaccination schedule.
| Covered Treatment | Illness/Injury Plan | Preventative Packages |
|---|---|---|
| Live vet chat 24/7 | ✓ | |
| Diagnostic tests | When related to illness/injury | |
| Annual wellness exam | ✓ | |
| Genetic conditions | ✓ | |
| Surgery | ✓ | |
| Medication | When related to illness/injury | |
| Heartworm/blood/parasite tests | ✓ | |
| Flea/heartworm medication | ✓ (Preventative+) | |
| Supplements | ✓ | |
| Non-routine dental | Add-on | |
| Routine dental cleaning | ✓ (Preventative+) | |
| Vaccinations | ✓ (more coverage with Preventative+) |
Available Riders/Add-Ons
There are a few add-ons available through Lemonade to help cover the costs of vet visits, rehabilitation, and end-of-life care.
- Preventative/Preventative+ Packages: The basic Preventative package covers the costs of necessary ongoing care like annual wellness exams, heartworm tests, and three vaccinations. The Preventative+ package covers more, as shown above, including coverage for six vaccinations.
- Puppy/Kitten Preventative Package: This package offers extended coverage for young pets to cover the costs of spaying, neutering, microchipping, flea/tick/heartworm medication, and up to six vaccines or boosters.
- Vet visits: Get this add-on and Lemonade will help pay for vet visit fees and exam fees that are charged for accidents and illnesses.
- Physical therapy: Lemonade will reimburse you for treatments like acupuncture and hydrotherapy related to functionality issues.
- End-of-life care and remembrance: Provides coverage for vet-recommended euthanasia or cremation or commemorative items to memorialize your pet.
Waiting Periods
It’s important to note that coverage from your Lemonade pet insurance plan doesn’t kick in right away. Like many insurance providers, Lemonade delays coverage for certain treatments for a period after your policy begins. Lemonade has three different waiting periods that begin on your policy’s start date:
- Accidents: 2 days
- Illnesses: 14 days
- Cruciate ligament events: 6 months2
Cancellation Policy
You can easily cancel your Lemonade pet insurance policy at any time through the Lemonade mobile app, by calling (844) 733-8666, or by emailing help@lemonade.com. You’ll receive a pro-rated refund for any period you’ve paid for.
If you decide to come back to Lemonade for your pet insurance needs, the waiting periods restart and medical conditions diagnosed during your first policy will be considered pre-existing conditions on future policies.
Plan Exclusions
Lemonade’s base plan does not cover exam fees, vet chat, vaccinations, or routine dental cleanings, although you can get those through add-ons. The following are not covered under any circumstances:
- Pre-existing conditions
- Prescription diets
- Bilateral conditions
Because Lemonade offers so many different add-ons, you shouldn’t run into too many exclusions if you’re willing to pay extra. For example, coverage for dental illnesses and behavioral problems are available for as a policy add-on.
Pre-Existing Conditions
Lemonade doesn’t reject pets with pre-existing conditions—it just won’t cover the costs associated with providing treatment for those conditions.
Lemonade will not consider injuries or conditions to be pre-existing if they’ve had no recurring symptoms or treatment for at least 12 months. That means coverage will be available for those conditions. This rule does not apply to knee and ligament conditions, and chronic conditions like allergies, asthma, and cancer. Any conditions presented during the policy waiting periods will be considered to be pre-existing.
Plan Pricing
You can get Lemonade pet insurance for your dog or cat starting at just $10 a month, but prices can vary due to many factors, such as age, breed, and location. Any included add-ons will increase your premium. You can check prices by getting an instant quote online through Lemonade’s website.
You have some flexibility when it comes to your deductible. When you begin a policy Lemonade lets you choose a $100, $250, or $500 deductible, and you can update this annually during your policy renewal. The amount you choose can affect your monthly premium: The higher the deductible you choose, the lower the premium you’ll pay.
Lemonade offers three reimbursement percentage amounts, depending on the plan you choose: 70%, 80%, or 90%. Annual reimbursement limits range from $5,000 to $100,000.1
If you insure more than one pet through Lemonade you can get a 5% multi-pet discount. And if you bundle your pet insurance policy with other Lemonade insurance policies, like auto, life, home, or renters, you’ll automatically get a 10% discount.4
Claims
You may notice that Lemonade pushes its customers to use the Lemonade app to manage their pet insurance plans. To file a claim, log in to the app and hit the “Claim” button; then the app will guide you through the process.
After completing the claim report you will be prompted to enter your bank account information; once the claim is approved, Lemonade will issue the payment directly into your bank account. Most simple claims are paid instantly, but more complex claims can take longer to fund.
Customer Service
You can use the Lemonade app for customer support, or you can contact the company via:
- Phone: (844) 733-8666
- Email: help@lemonade.com
- Online chat
Third-Party Ratings
In our survey on pet insurance attitudes and values, Investopedia collected positive feedback from several Lemonade customers. One user said, “They’re a good company I want to spend more time with,” and another reported, “I was happy with their service overall.” Others chose Lemonade for its low prices.
Lemonade has no complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Alternative Choices
When you shop around for the best pet insurance policy to meet your needs and budget, you’ll want to keep the following elements in mind.
- Covered treatments and exclusions (look for dental)
- Wellness plan or rider options
- Coverage limits
- Monthly premium
- Deductible
- Reimbursement percentages and limits
- Minimum and maximum cutoff ages
Competition
| Lemonade | AKC | Trupanion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Deductible Options | $100, $250, $500 | $100, $250, $300, $400, $500, $600, $750, $1,000 | $0 to $1,000 |
| Reimbursement Percentage | 70%, 80%, 90% | 70%, 80%, 90% | 90% |
| Average Claim Turnaround Time | 12–18 days | 5 days | 5–7 days |
| Illness Waiting Period | 14 days | 14 days | 30 days |
| Injury Waiting Period | 2 days | 2 days | 5 days |
| Exam Coverage | Add-on | Add-on | No |
| Dental Illness Coverage | Add-on | No | Yes |
| Max Enrollment Age Limit | 14 years | None | 14 years |
Final Verdict
Although it didn’t feature in our Best Pet Insurance Companies article, Lemonade is a solid choice for those who want low monthly costs, are tech-savvy, and like the idea of giving back with their premiums. It gets good reviews, and it’s easy to manage your Lemonade pet insurance policy through the website and convenient mobile app. Although the base plan is missing a few situations you may want, Lemonade offers a wide variety of add-ons at affordable prices which make it easy to customize your coverage.
For those who want more options from which to choose, Nationwide rated ‘Best Overall’ in our list of Best Pet Insurance Companies, with Figo coming in as the runner-up. Other top-rated companies included MetLife, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Odie, Prudent Pet, and USAA.
Nationwide announced in June 2024 that it plans to drop about 100,000 pet insurance policies. The non-renewals are set to take place through the summer of 2025. Nationwide will send written notice to the policyholders who are being dropped. The company blamed the decision on the rising cost of veterinary care.5
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lemonade Good at Paying Claims?
In our survey of Pet Insurance Attitudes and Values, customers reported being happy with the company, which implies good service. Though Lemonade took longer to pay claims than some other pet insurers, the typical payment was still quick, and funds are sent straight to your bank account.
How Long Do Lemonade Pet Claims Take?
The company says it aims to pay simple claims instantly. However, some claims will take longer to settle, and sometimes the company will require more information if a claim form isn’t complete. According to our research, the average claim turnaround time was 12 to 18 days.
Why Is Lemonade Insurance so Cheap?
Lemonade keeps its costs low because the company is a Public Benefit Corporation. It takes a flat fee for its service and treats the rest of the money it collects as belonging to its customers. Any money left over goes to charities the customers choose.
Does Lemonade Cover All Vets?
Yes, you can go to any vet within the United States, as long as the vet is licensed to practice in the state in which the company operates.
Methodology
Investopedia is dedicated to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of pet insurance companies. We rated 25 providers and collected over 2,000 data points, including information about plan options, company features, and fees and limits, to ensure that our reviews help users make informed decisions for their pet insurance needs.
