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.4 
• 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.2
• Not available nationwide: Lemonade pet insurance products are currently only available in 38 states and Washington, D.C.4
• 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.5

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.23

Company Overview

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 38 states and Washington, D.C.4

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.2

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.2 The basic wellness add-on (Preventative) will get you 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.6

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.7 

• 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.6
• 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.8
• 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.2
• 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 months5

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.3

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.2 The following are not covered under any circumstances:

• Pre-existing conditions
• Dental illnesses
• Prescription diets
• Bilateral conditions
• Behavioral problems

Because Lemonade offers so many different add-ons, you shouldn’t run into too many exclusions if you’re willing to pay extra. The lack of coverage for dental illnesses could be an issue for some customers, however.

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.2

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.4 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 deductible you choose, the lower 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.

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.1 

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 chat1

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).9 

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

Final Verdict

If you’re tech-savvy, you’ll appreciate being able 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. 

Our Methodology: How We Review Pet Insurance Carriers

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.

Our full pet insurance methodology, including our data collection process and weighted data points, is available for review.