Lemonade Pet Insurance Review 2024: Pros, Cons & Verdict

Lemonade Pet Insurance is best known for its heavy use of AI, which allows it to keep its prices lower than the competition. It also provides comprehensive accident and illness coverage, as well as some wellness options, too.

Lemonade allows pet owners to do almost everything online, including filing a claim. Therefore, they are an excellent option for those who don’t want the hassle of calling a customer service representative whenever they need to file a claim.

However, their plan options are slightly slimmer than some of the competition.

---

Lemonade Pet Insurance Review

---

Other Top-Rated Pet Insurance Companies

---

About Lemonade Pet Insurance

Lemonade pet insurance is pretty cheap compared to others. However, they also leave several commonly covered conditions and treatment options off their base policy. Therefore, you’re paying less for less. This plan is helpful for those on a strict budget or who need preventative care. However, if you upgrade the plan to become comprehensive, it is extremely expensive.

---

Pricing & Plans (Updated in 2024)

Pet Insurance Cost Comparison

Base Policy

The base plan covers some of the most common accident and illness costs, such as diabetes, UTIs, arthritis, cuts, and broken bones. The base plan covers both accidents and illnesses. Simply put, any severe and unforeseen accident or illness is covered under this base plan (though there are some expectations).

Most vet costs related to these conditions are covered. For instance, the company can reimburse you for lab work, surgery, emergency care, medication, hospitalizations, and diagnostics. However, the vet exam leading to the diagnosis is not covered. Likely, this prevents people from taking their pet to the vet when they do not need it. However, it does mean you’ll have to pay the exam fees yourself.

Customization

There are many customization options for your pet. Sadly, many of these customizations are included in the base policy of other insurance plans. Therefore, while Lemonade has a cheaper base plan, this is partly because their base plan covers less stuff.

If you want the same coverage with another company, you’ll need to get quite a few add-ons, which add up fast.

Vet Visits

You can have Lemonade cover vet visits associated with an accident or illness. However, this costs about $2–$5 for cats and $3–$8 for dogs. Therefore, this is quite expensive and can add up quickly in many cases. By comparison, many other companies cover vet exams by default.

Physical Therapy

Dogs rarely need physical therapy. However, those dogs that do need it may need many different visits. Therefore, this is often quite expensive. To help you cover it, you can purchase an add-on from Lemonade, which costs an extra $1–$3 a month.

Again, this coverage is often included by default by other insurance companies.

Behavioral Conditions

Behavioral conditions are not covered under the base plan. This includes medication and training used to treat these conditions. Therefore, you’ll have to add this optional coverage option if you want things like anxiety, stress, aggression, and depression to be covered.

Dental Illness

Dental illness is not covered under the base plan. This includes teeth problems and gum disease. You’ll have to add this extra add-on to your plan for this coverage, which can be pretty expensive. It costs around $10-$15 for this add-on.

Preventative Care

There are also two different wellness add-ons you can choose if you’re looking for help covering regular preventative care. These two packages differ in what they cover. The first option includes a wellness exam, fecal testing, vaccinations, a heartworm test, and a bloodworm test.

The more expensive option includes all of this coverage, as well as flea, tick, and heartworm medication, as well as regular dental cleaning.

For pets under the age of two, these plans cost more (as it’s assumed the puppy will need more preventative care).

Lemonade Pet Comparison for Dogs

---

Deductibles & Claims

Lemonade does offer some plan customizations. Their deductible options are $100, $250, and $500. Compared to other plans, these are pretty low. Other companies provide higher options for those that just want very expensive medical care covered. However, for Lemonade, this isn’t an option. Still, that does mean that your insurance will kick in sooner.

This company doesn’t offer any unlimited coverage limit. However, they do offer a $100,000 limit, which is higher than most dogs will ever hit. This coverage limit is annual, so the costs restart every year. However, there are several lower options, as well.

Reimbursement rates are 70%, 80%, and 90%. Note that there is not a 100% reimbursement option, so you will always be paying for some of the vet bills.

---

What Does Lemonade Cover?

Lemonade covers many different health expenses in the base plan. However, it isn’t quite as many as others. Luckily, there is no annual limit per condition. Therefore, you can spend up to your annual limit on a single incident if that’s what it comes to.

All diagnostic tests are covered. This includes urine tests, blood tests, X-rays, CT scans, lab work, and similar tests that determine what your dog has. Furthermore, outpatient, specialty, and emergency care are all covered.

Hospitalization due to a covered accident or illness is also covered. Surgery, injections, and medications for treatment are all included, too. If it involves a covered condition, the insurance plan should cover it. (Except for the vet exam fees, which are not included in this plan.)

If you choose the optional add-ons, you can get coverage for vet exams if your dog was found to have a covered illness or accident during the exam. Therefore, wellness exams are not covered under this – and neither are exams that turn out to find nothing.

Physical therapy is covered under this add-on, as well, including chiropractic care and acupuncture. You can also choose to add end-of-life care, which includes euthanasia, cremation, and memorial items.

If you choose one of the wellness add-ons, your pet will have a limited amount of wellness coverage, depending on your chosen option. Wellness exams, fecal exams, heartworm tests, and bloodwork are all covered.

You can also get coverage for up to six annual vaccinations, routine dental care (including X-rays, anesthesia, etc.), parasite medications, spaying and neutering, and microchipping. However, for most of these options, only a discount is provided.

---

Pre-Existing Conditions

Lemonade takes a very hard stance on pre-existing conditions. The company never covers pre-existing conditions. Anything your pet has previously been diagnosed with before the policy will not be covered, even if your pet was technically “cured.” (This is one section where customers tend to give negative reviews.)

Therefore, it is highly recommended to cover your pet young if you want to choose Lemonade.

Furthermore, the company won’t cover conditions that occur on one side of the body if it’s already occurred on the other side before your pet was covered. In other words, if your dog develops cataracts in one eye, and then you get a Lemonade policy, no cataracts will be covered – even those occurring in the other eye.

---

Waiting Periods

Lemonade does have some waiting periods. When you purchase the policy, it doesn’t kick in right away. Instead, there is a waiting period for specific conditions. Lemonade’s waiting period is two days for injuries, 14 days for illnesses, and six months for cruciate ligaments.

Generally, these waiting periods are pretty standard for the industry.

---

Reviews From Customers

There are several customer reviews on third-party websites, which allows us to get a decent idea of what others think of this pet insurance.

It seems that many people choose Lemonade because they offer wellness insurance. People with puppies love this insurance, as it pays for the wellness coverage puppies need with the correct add-ons. The claims for wellness coverage and illnesses are fast, with many reports of next-day reimbursement.

Lemonade’s customer service is excellent by all accounts. The representatives are fast to answer questions and helpful. They can explain policies and what information is covered. Furthermore, the app is easy to use and allows quick claim filing.

However, there are several negative reviews, too. Many claimed that conditions were denied as “pre-existing” even when the vet submitted letters that they were not. For instance, one user stated that their dog’s eye coverage was denied due to a previous ear infection. These sorts of confused denials seem to be at least somewhat common.

There are several reports that once your deductible is met, the claims period takes much longer. The company may take extra review steps after your deductible is met.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Lemonade a Good Insurance Company for Pets?

Lemonade is a decent pet insurance company. Typically, it receives pretty average ratings. Its lower price and preventative care options often help propel it to the top. However, it should be noted that this company has become more expensive over the last few years.

While this insurance is cheap, they seem to keep their price down by keeping several common conditions and treatments uncovered. For instance, dental health, physical therapy, behavioral conditions, and vet exam costs are not covered under their base plan (while they are commonly covered by other companies). Therefore, you are paying less, but you’re also getting less coverage.

While add-ons can be purchased to cover these conditions, they are expensive. For instance, dental coverage can raise your monthly bill by 40%.

Our Verdict

Lemonade insurance is one of the cheapest on the market. They use AI to help with the claims process, and their app is very easy to navigate. However, their coverage isn’t exactly comprehensive, as there are several conditions and treatment categories that are left off.

Therefore, while this insurance is decent, it’s vital to understand exactly what they cover before purchasing a plan.

See also:

• Lemonade vs. Trupanion Pet Insurance Comparison: Which One’s Best?
• MetLife Pet Insurance Review: Pros, Cons, & Verdict