Lemonade Pet Insurance Review

Lemonade Pet Insurance Ratings at a Glance

Do you have a beloved pet that you want to make sure is taken care of? Pet insurance is a great way to ensure that all your fur baby's vet bills are taken care of if they get sick. But it can be difficult to know which pet insurance provider to trust. That's why Benzinga took a look at the options and offers this Lemonade Pet Insurance review.

What Pets Does Lemonade Cover?

Lemonade covers dogs and cats of all ages, and cats typically cost less to insure than dogs.

Lemonade coverage options start with their base policy, which covers accidents and illness.

Accidents & Illness 

This coverage helps cover treatment and tests related to accidents such as broken bones, sprains, and other unexpected incidents resulting in an injury. It also helps to cover costs related to illnesses including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, elbow and hip dysplasia, hernias, infections, eye disorders, and more. It helps to pay for:

• Diagnostics, including bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasounds, urinalysis and MRIs
• Procedures, including surgery, hospitalization, specialty and emergency care and outpatient procedures.
• Medications to treat the accident or illness, including injections and prescription medications.

Lemonade also offers two add-on packages. The first is designed to help keep your pet healthy.

Preventive and Wellness 

You can add this coverage, which covers several things you’re likely already paying for, to your base policy. It includes:

• Wellness exams: These are annual check-ups for your very loved one.
• Internal Parasite or Fecal test: These are annual checks to ensure your pets are free of internal parasites.
• Heartworm tests: These tests ensure your pets are free of heartworm.
• Bloodwork: Just like people, pets benefit from having annual bloodwork. It can help detect health issues before symptoms start.
• Vaccines: Lemonade will cover up to three vaccines, including rabies, FVRCP and FeVL. 
• Live Medical Chat: You can get online medical advice regarding your pets from the expert team at Lemonade, which can help you save on vet visits.

These services are covered with no deductible, so you’ll only need to contribute your co-insurance payment.

Extended Accident and Illness Coverage

The second add-on package is designed for the pet parent who wants to go above and beyond, and you don’t have to add preventive and wellness coverage to qualify for this package. You can add one or the other or both. Here's what it covers:

• Vet visit fees: This helps cover the cost of visiting a vet when you're getting your pet treated for a covered accident or illness, which is something some vets will charge you for. The preventive and wellness coverage helps to pay for annual wellness visits, and those aren't included in this coverage.
• Physical therapy: Sometimes pets need a little extra help to recover. This adds coverage for additional treatments like physical therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic care.

How Coverage Works

With Lemonade pet insurance, like most pet insurance policies, you pay a percentage of the costs. This is your co-insurance. You decide if Lemonade will pay  70%, 80% or 90% of your eligible vet expenses. This percentage applies after you meet your deductible. 

Your deductible is the amount you pay for covered services before Lemonade starts to pay. You can choose a $100, $250 or $500 annual deductible.

There's also a limit to how much Lemonade will pay each year toward your covered veterinary costs. You can choose a $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000 limit.

Here's how it all works. Let's say your dog got into some chocolate. You make an emergency visit to the vet and your pet is taken care of. Your veterinary bill comes to $1,500. This is your first visit to the vet after buying your Lemonade pet insurance policy, and you have a plan with a $250 deductible, 80% coinsurance and a $20,000 limit.

You would need to pay $250 towards your vet bill to cover your deductible. That leaves you with a balance of $1,250. Lemonade will pay 80% of the remainder of your vet bill. That means Lemonade will pay $1,000 and you'll pay $250. In total, you'll pay $500 of your $1,500 vet bill. If you have any more vet visits that year, Lemonade will pay 80% of the costs and you won't need to meet your deductible again. You only have to meet your deductible once per year. Lemonade will pay up to $20,000 toward your vet bill each year.

You can lower the cost of your pet insurance premiums by increasing your deductible or your co-insurance percentage or lowering your coverage limit. A policy with a $500 deductible will cost less than a policy with a $100 deductible. Making these changes will increase your out-of-pocket costs, though, so it's important to balance affordability with getting the coverage you need. 

Lemonade Coverage Exclusions

Like any health policy, Lemonade does not cover everything. It has waiting periods for coverage. You have a 2-day waiting period for accidents, a 14-day waiting period for illnesses and a 6-month waiting period for cruciate ligament events.

Lemonade does not cover:

• Pre-existing conditions: These are conditions that existed before you bought the policy.
• Dental care: Lemonade doesn't cover dental care unless it's related to an accident.
• Preventable situations and neglect: Lemonade expects pet parents to take good care of their loved ones.
• Cosmetic procedures: These include microchipping, grooming and nail trims.
• Breeding and pregnancy
• Boarding and training
• Alternative and experimental treatments: This includes aromatherapy or herbal remedies.
• Treatments that aren't medically necessary

Lemonade pet insurance rates vary depending on where you live and the types of pet you have. These sample rates are for a 5-year-old mixed breed dog and a 7-year-old cat living in Toledo, Ohio.

Like most pet insurance companies, Lemonade pays claims on a reimbursement basis. That means that you pay for your veterinary costs upfront and then Lemonade will reimburse you according to the terms of your policy. Lemonade also requires access to your pet's full medical records as recent as up to 12 months before the start of the policy.

Fortunately, Lemonade makes it easy to file a claim. You can submit a claim directly from the Lemonade app. Lemonade may be able to pay you immediately for some claims, but for other claims, they will need to do a manual review.

Lemonade Pet Insurance Customer Service

You can reach customer service through the Lemonade app or by clicking “Help” in the bottom right-hand corner of the Lemonade website. Or by one of the options below.

Lemonade Pet vs Competitors

Lemonade is one of the best pet insurance options because they make it easy to buy and manage your policy and some of your premiums could go toward charities that you care about. They make it easy to file claims and some claims could be paid right away, which means you don't have to wait for Lemonade to reimburse you for your veterinary costs. Their prices are competitive and the coverage is in line with other pet insurance providers. 

The first step to buying Lemonade pet insurance is determining whether it's available in your state. Lemonade pet insurance is available in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, 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 and Wisconsin. According to its website, Lemonade plans to expand to additional states in the coming year.

If Lemonade is available in your state, download the app or visit their website. Consider signing up for renters or homeowners insurance before starting your pet insurance so you can receive a discount for bundling your insurance policies. Plus, it simplifies things to have multiple insurance policies through one provider.

Overall, Lemonade is an excellent choice for pet parents concerned about the high cost of veterinary bills and who don't mind paying a relatively low premium in exchange for more peace of mind.