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Lemonade Pet Insurance is an affordable option in the pet insurance industry. Find out if it could be right for you and your pet.
Lemonade Pet insurance is health insurance available for dogs and cats and includes basic hospitalization, accident and illness coverage, and several preventative packages. Coverage will start as low as $10 per month, and you can even get a bundling discount if you have other policies through the company.
Lemonade is different from traditional insurance companies. Traditionally, any money that is not paid out in claims is kept as profit by the company. But Lemonade does things differently. Lemonade takes a flat fee from the premiums paid and uses the rest to pay claims. If there is any unclaimed money is donated to charity, not kept as extra profit.
Pros and Cons of Lemonade Pet Insurance
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Choose your own care providers — There are no networks to limit your care options.
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Provides up to 90% reimbursement — Many competitors reimburse at lower levels.
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Low-cost provider — Pet insurance premiums start as low as $10 per month.
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Multi-policy discounts — You can get a 10% savings if you bundle with your homeowners insurance or a car through Lemonade.
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Fast claim payments — Lemonade promises to pay claims almost instantly, since they are filed from your mobile app.
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There are age limits — These will vary according to the breed of pet you have and apply to new policies only. An existing policy won’t be canceled due to the age of your pet.
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Limited dental coverage — Pays for teeth damaged in an accident, including extraction and reconstruction, but not routine care. Routine covered by via Lemonade’s Preventative+ package.
Lemonade Pet Insurance Plans and Coverage
Lemonade’s Pet Insurance is health insurance for your cat or dog. You can go to any licenced vet and it provides financial coverage if your pet gets sick or hurt. This includes:
- Accidents, unexpected events like road accidents or poisoning that result in injury, sickness, broken bones, and sprains.
- Illnesses, including vomiting, diarrhea, and infections.
- Repeating or chronic conditions, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, and skin conditions.
- Congenital or hereditary conditions, such as elbow and hip dysplasia, hernias, and blood and eye disorders.
- Diagnostics, including blood tests, urine analysis, x-rays, MRIs, lab work, CT scans, and ultrasounds.
- Outpatient, specialty, and emergency care, hospitalization, and surgery.
- Prescription medicines.
Here’s a chart from Lemonade that gives a quick overview of their coverage.
Deductible and Co-insurance levels
When setting up your policy you’ll be asked to choose your deductible and co-insurance.
A deductible is how much you need to pay out of pocket per year before your insurance kicks in. For example, if you have a $100 deductible you’ll need to pay $100 before your insurance policy coverage begins. This is true for all types of insurance.
With Lemonade your deductible choices are:
- $100
- $250
- $500
The higher deductible you choose the lower your premium will be.
Co-insurance is the percentage of the cost that the insurance policy will pay. For example, if your bill is $1,000 and you have 80% co-insurance the insurance company will pay $800 and you will be responsible for $200.
With Lemonade your co-insurance choices are:
- 70%
- 80%
- 90%
The lower co-insurance you choose the lower your premium will be.
Let’s look at an example. Let’s say your dog is injured and the bill is $2,500. You’ve chosen a $500 deductible and 80% co-insurance.
First, you’ll pay your deductible of $500, bringing the outstanding bill to $2,000. Then Lemonade will pick up 80%, or $1,600. Leaving you with the remaining $400 to pay out of pocket.
So in this scenario, the bill was $2,500 and you will have paid $900 and the insurance paid $1,600. Of course, you only need to meet your deductible once per year. So if you had already met your deductible for the year insurance would have paid 80% of the entire bill – so $2,000.
Get started with Lemonade Pet Insurance.What Lemonade Pet Insurance Doesn’t Cover
While pet insurance covers a lot, it won’t cover everything. If your pet has pre-existing conditions those will be excluded. Also, if your pet sustains injury due to neglect on your part then it may not be covered.
For example, if your dog eats laundry detergent once, the care required would be covered. But if you continually bring your dog to the vet for eating laundry detergent then they may stop covering those visits as it would be up to you to better secure the detergent.
Note that even if something isn’t covered doesn’t mean that you can’t get care. You would just have to pay for it out of pocket.
Waiting Periods
There are also some waiting periods after you first get coverage. Accident coverage has a two day waiting period. Coverage for illness has a 14 day waiting peroid. And cruciate ligament events have a six month waiting period.
What are cruciate ligament events? I’m no vet but from what I read it’s basically bad knees. Here’s more information on that.
Lemonade Pet Insurance Add-ons
If you want coverage above and beyond the base level coverage Lemonade has some add-ons available that will increase your coverage.
Preventative package
Designed to keep your pet healthy, Lemonade will help pay for preventative care costs, including:
- 1 Annual Wellness Exam
- 1 Heartworm Test or FeLV/FIV Test
- 3 Vaccines or Boosters
- 1 CBC/Chem Blood Test
- 1 Fecal or Internal Parasite Test
Preventative+ package
This package adds on medication for heartworm and flea and tick as the above package only covers testing. This package includes:
- 1 Annual Wellness Exam
- 1 Heartworm or FeLV/FIV Test
- 3 Vaccines or Boosters
- 1 CBC/Chem Blood Test
- 1 Fecal or Internal Parasite Test
- Flea, Tick or Heartworm Medication
- Routine Dental Cleaning
Puppy/Kitten Preventative Package
If you have a puppy or kitten you may want to consider this package. It includes:
- 2 Annual Wellness Exams
- 1 Heartworm Test or FeLV/FIV Test
- 6 Vaccines or Boosters
- 1 CBC/Chem Blood Test
- 2 Fecal or Internal Parasite Tests
- Microchipping
- Flea, Tick or Heartworm Medication
- Spaying or Neutering Procedure
Physical Therapy Add-on
If you select this package, you’ll be reimbursed for treatments for functionality issues, like physical therapy, acupuncture and hydrotherapy. Those are therapies that can help your pet through a recovery process. As part of the package, Lemonade will also pay for visit fees that are charged for accidents and illnesses, over and above the actual cost of the treatment.
What does Lemonade Pet Insurance Cost
Since Lemonade advertises monthly premiums as low as $10, I ran a scenario based on an average dog. And I must admit I was surprised at how high the premium was.
The information was entered on a five-year-old Terrier Mix, named Captain Jack, living in Phoenix and in good health.
The application requests the following information:
- Your pets name
- Dog or cat
- Your home address
- The pet’s age, breed, and gender
- Several health-related questions to determine any preexisting condition
With a $250 deductible and 80% co-insurance, the base plan came back at $38.02 per month. That includes diagnostics, procedures, and medications.
I could add on vet visits, which would cover the cost of the vet visit for accident or illness-related visits for $7.40 per month.
Then it asked me if I wanted to add on any preventative care packages. The Preventative package was an additional $17.58 per month and the Preventative+ was $26.70 per month.
At the end of the quoting questions, there is an option to adjust your deductible and co-insurance. It’s a little hard to find, once you receive your quote, you have to scroll down quite a bit to find where you can make this adjustment.
When I changed my deductible to $500, leaving the co-insurance at 80% my premium dropped to $27.80 a month.
It’s worth noting that pet insurance for cats is substantially less expensive than it is for dogs. Switching from dog to cat with all the other parameters the same brought the price down to $21.00 per month, from $38. And choosing a $500 deductible made the monthly payment only $15.48
I love that you can get your quote right online without any hassle. The whole process took just a few minutes.
Get started with Lemonade Pet Insurance.How to File a Claim with Lemonade Pet Insurance
You’ll find filing a claim with Lemonade to be easier than with traditional insurance providers. You can file a claim from the mobile app by hitting the Claim button. You’ll be guided through the rest of the process. In fact, the company claims 30% of claims are handled instantly.
You’ll be asked to enter your bank account wire information, and once your claim is approved, payment will be issued directly into your account. The company aims to pay claims “almost instantly”. That means it may be possible that the cost of a procedure or test will be paid before you even leave the veterinarian’s office.
You’ll be asked to do a short video on your mobile device explaining the claim in your own words. This may be an extra step, but it will avoid the need to complete too many input screens. You’ll also need to send a copy of the vet bill and receipt from your vet or clinic, which can easily be done by snapping a photo of the documents from your smartphone.
Some cases will need to be fully reviewed and may take longer to settle. This may be more likely to occur when you make your first claim, since you will be unfamiliar with the process. All claims must be filed within 180 dates of treatment, including providing all necessary information.
Lemonade Pet Insurance works entirely online. That includes access to both the website and your mobile device. And not only can you sign up for the coverage through the app, but you will also handle all communications and filing of claims in the same way.
Like most other pet insurance providers, Lemonade allows you to work with any licensed veterinarian or pet care facility in the U.S. You can bring your pet to the care provider of your choice, and obtain reimbursement for services, sometimes before you even leave the veterinarian’s office. However, like with most other pet insurance companies, you should expect to pay the care provider directly, then receive reimbursement from Lemonade.
Customer Service and Support
Customer support is available through the app and the website, under the “Help” button. Additionally, support is available by phone at (844) 733-8666, Monday through Friday from 9 am to 8 pm EST.
Lemonade Vs Other Pet Insurance Companies
The number of companies participating in pet insurance is growing, which is fortunate given that the cost of obtaining that care is also rising. In addition to Lemonade consider the following pet insurance providers:
Embrace
Embrace is one of the best-known pet insurance companies. Like most other pet insurance companies, they limit coverage to dogs and cats. And they allow you to work with any licensed veterinarian or pet care facility of your choice. They offer what they refer to as Nose-to-tail Pet Insurance Coverage, covering accidents, illnesses, breed-specific and genetic conditions, cancer, and dental illnesses. But they also cover more common conditions, like allergies, arthritis, and diabetes. What’s more, they also cover prescription medications, including, if necessary, oral chemotherapy. Reimbursement levels are set at your choice of 70%, 80%, or 90%, with deductibles ranging between $200 and $1,000.
Check out our full Embrace pet insurance review
Pumpkin Pet Insurance
Pumpkin Pet Insurance is another fast-rising pet insurance provider. Much like Lemonade, they only began their pet insurance operation in 2020. But they’re enabling participants to receive a high reimbursement rate on eligible veterinary expenses for both accidents and illnesses. They also offer an optional preventative care package that covers an annual wellness exam, vaccines, and key tests. They also offer flexible annual limits and deductibles. Also – very important – there are no upper age limitations.
Check out our full Pumpkin pet insurance review.
Pumpkin Advertiser Disclosure: Pumpkin Insurance Services, Inc. is responsible for this advertisement. Pumpkin Pet Insurance policies do not cover pre-existing conditions. Waiting periods, annual deductible, co-insurance, benefit limits and exclusions may apply. For full terms, visit pumpkin.care/insurancepolicy. Products, discounts, and rates may vary and are subject to change. Pumpkin Insurance Services Inc. ("Pumpkin") (NPN #19084749) is a licensed insurance agency, not an insurer. Insurance is underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company, a Crum & Forster Company (NAIC #21113, Morristown, NJ) and produced by Pumpkin. Pumpkin Preventive Essentials is not an insurance policy. It is offered as an optional add-on non-insurance benefit. Pumpkin is responsible for the product and administration. Pumpkin Preventive Essentials is not available in all states. For full terms, visit pumpkin.care/customeragreement.
Is Lemonade Pet Insurance the Right Pet Insurance for You?
Due to rising costs and more expensive medical treatments available, having pet insurance is increasingly becoming a necessity for a pet parent. One of the big advantages Lemonade insurance offers is the absence of the bureaucratic process that typically accompanies dealing with insurance companies. Their unique business model allows them to use a simple process in which participants pay premiums, and the company pays out claims almost immediately. They view the premium money you pay as your money, and avoid creating unnecessary obstacles to paying claims.
One thing to be aware of is that there is a wide variation in the premium level you will pay. Even though they premiums may be as low as $10 per month, that’s the cost of a stripped-down policy for cats. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive plan, the kind that will cover major surgery, you’ll need to go with more generous policy limits.
But don’t get too carried away on that front either. Though they offer annual coverage limits up to $100,000, that amount will be totally unnecessary in the vast majority of cases. For most pets, a policy limit of $20,000 or even $10,000 will be sufficient.
That may be the very best reason to choose Lemonade insurance company for your pet insurance needs. They offer a wider variety of coverage options than most other providers. You can pick the one that works best for you and fits neatly within your budget.
Learn More: The 5 Best Credit Cards for Pet Expenses
Bottom Line
You’re probably already painfully aware of how expensive health care has become for people. But just as medical technology has advanced, and expectations of care have increased, the same dynamic has been playing out with healthcare costs for pets. Having a policy in place will give you options to care for your pet in a way that might not exist without coverage.
Kevin Mercadante
Since 2009, Kevin Mercadante has been sharing his journey from a washed-up mortgage loan officer emerging from the Financial Meltdown as a contract/self-employed slash worker accountant/blogger/freelance blog writer on OutofYourRut.com [http://outofyourrut.com/]. He offers career strategies, from dealing with under-employment to transitioning into self-employment, and provides Alt-retirement strategies for the vast majority who won't retire to the beach as millionaires.
