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Pros and Cons of Lemonade Home Insurance
The Lemonade app with its AI technology allows for fast claims processing, but it does require users to submit a video when filing a claim, which may be a downside for homeowners who’d prefer not to submit a video of themselves.
Here are a few other pros and cons of Lemonade’s home insurance:
Pros
Offers highly customizable coverage limits that you can select while getting a quote onlineHas a giveback program that annually donates up to 40% of your unused premiums to a charity of your choiceProvides a live chat feature during the quote process in case you have any questions about the insurance coverage you need
Cons
Has limited state availability, excluding 27 statesCan sometimes be difficult to quickly reach customer service by phone
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Lemonade at a Glance
- Our Rating: 85.75 out of 100
- Year Founded: 2015
- State Availability: 23 states and Washington, D.C.
Lemonade Home Insurance Policy Coverage
Your home insurance from Lemonade includes the following types of coverage:
- Dwelling: This coverage is typically equal to or greater than your home’s estimated reconstruction cost, since it’s the amount Lemonade agrees to pay for repairing or rebuilding your home’s structure after a covered incident, such as a storm or fire.
- Other structures: If your home has external structures, such as a fence, covered walkway or a backyard shed, this coverage is how much Lemonade agrees to pay to repair or rebuild them.
- Personal property: Home insurance also covers your personal belongings, such as clothing, furniture and electronics, if they’re stolen or damaged from a covered peril. The amount of coverage you select is how much Lemonade will pay per policy term to replace those items. Keep in mind that you’ll need extra coverage for high-value items (those worth more than $1,000) with Lemonade’s valuables add-on.
- Portable electronics: Lemonade covers your electronics, such as your phone, tablet, laptop and headphones, separately from your general personal property coverage, so you may need to increase this coverage amount, depending on how much value you have in portable electronics.
- Loss of use: If your home becomes unlivable after a covered incident, you’ll need to arrange for a hotel where you can temporarily stay while your house is being repaired or rebuilt. Additional living expenses that you incur from those arrangements are covered by Lemonade, up to a certain amount that you choose when you sign up for a policy.
- Personal liability: If someone gets injured on your property, you could be liable for their medical expenses and legal fees if they sue you. Lemonade’s home insurance policy helps pay for those expenses with its customizable personal liability coverage.
- Medical payments to others: If a guest or neighbor gets injured on your property, Lemonade will pay up to this coverage amount for their medical expenses, even if you’re not legally required to pay them.
Additional Coverage
You can also add extra coverage if you need it:
- Extra valuables: If some of your belongings are worth more than $1,000 in replacement value, you may need to add coverage for their specific categories: jewelry, fine art, bikes, cameras or musical instruments. Lemonade offers customizable limits for these additions.
- Swimming pool liability: You can extend your liability coverage to help pay for accidents in your pool, which is excluded in the standard policy.
- Significant other: For a few dollars extra per month, you can add your unmarried significant other who lives on the property with you to your policy’s coverage.
- Water back-up: With this endorsement, you can add coverage up to a certain limit for damage caused by water coming from your drain or sewer, which is excluded from your standard policy.
- Appliance breakdown: This add-on can help you pay for your appliances, such as your refrigerator and washing machine, if they break down unexpectedly and need to be repaired or replaced. It comes with a $500 deductible.
- Extended reconstruction cost: You can pay extra for coverage added to your dwelling limit if the rebuilding cost of your home ends up being higher than you expected. This can help protect you from inflating prices for materials and labor that you can’t predict when purchasing your policy.
Lemonade Home Insurance Cost
During our research, we obtained sample quotes from Lemonade on 2,000-square-foot homes in a selection of states with roughly $350,000 replacement value and a $5,000 deductible on the policy. We have put together the chart below to help you compare these quotes against the state averages for homeowners insurance premiums in 2019 according to theInsurance Information Institute’s latest report.
State | Lemonade Monthly Premium | Average Monthly Premium | More Providers |
Colorado | $95.17 | $134 | See list |
Massachusetts | $106.92 | $134 | See list |
Ohio | $92.59 | $71 | See list |
Texas | $134.92 | $165 | See list |
Virginia | $71.00 | $90 | See list |
Average | $100.12 | $119 | See list |
Since homeowners insurance quotes are highly customized based on each homeowners’ specific details and needs, you can expect the following factors to impact your Lemonade premium:
- Location: Your zip code can have a major impact on your quoted premium, since some areas in the U.S. have considerably higher risk of potential perils than others. Additionally, rebuilding and repair costs can vary depending on your area, which affects how much you’ll pay for your policy due to how much dwelling coverage you’ll need.
- Home size and type: Larger homes generally come with higher reconstruction value, which means you’ll need a higher dwelling limit, pushing your policy’s premium higher. Additionally, your home’s features and construction type can also make it more expensive to repair or replace after an incident.
- Age: In general, newer homes come with cheaper homeowners insurance prices, since their structures often have a lower risk of being impacted by natural disasters. Additionally, your roof’s age can have an impact on your Lemonade policy’s cost if it hasn’t been replaced in the last 20 to 30 years.
- Personal information: When you get a quote from Lemonade, you’ll be asked about your claims history and to provide the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you’ve filed an insurance claim within the past five years, your policy could come at a higher rate than someone with a clean claims history. A poor credit score could also impact your quoted rates.
- Policy customization: Once you get your quote, you’ll be able to customize your deductible and coverage by choosing from various limits for each coverage category. Lemonade pre-sets your dwelling coverage to what its tool estimates your home’s value to be worth, but you can change it according to your needs. You can check for additional discounts before getting your final rate and signing up for the policy.
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Lemonade Home Insurance Discounts
In addition to receiving lower premiums for having a newly renovated or recently built home and roof, you could receive the following specific discounts during your quote based on your home’s features:
- Home security discount: Theft protection features, such as deadbolts, burglar alarms and home security systems that report to the police station, can grant you discounts on your premium.
- Fire safety discounts: Fire safety devices, such as a fire extinguisher, sprinkler system, smoke detector, fire alarm and fire reporting system, can save you money on your premium.
- Water leak detection discounts: If you have a water leak detection system that alerts you of any leaks or potential for water damage in your house, you could receive a discount on your Lemonade policy.
- Gated community discount: You can receive a discount if you live in a gated community or neighborhood since it reduces your home’s risk of burglary.
- Bundling discount: You can get a discount for bundling with another policy, such as Lemonade pet insurance or term life insurance.
Lemonade Home Insurance Customer Reviews
When researching the top players in the home insurance industry, we analyzed more than 100 reviews from third-party websites, such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot, for each provider to get a sense of their overall customer feedback.
BBB and Trustpilot both feature a mix of positive and negative comments about Lemonade’s insurance policies. For instance, some satisfied customers discuss experiences with the fast, hassle-free claims process that the company promises, while others complain about drawn-out claims and unexpectedly denied payouts. When we reached out to Lemonade about the negative reviews, the company did not provide a comment.
Here are a few examples of Lemonade home insurance reviews from the BBB:
“Working with [Lemonade] was one of the best experiences I have had with a company in a long time. They assisted me every step of the way to properly document the issue and were courteous and professional the entire time. Within 17 days my claim was approved and roughly 80% of the value was issued.”
— Brian E.
“They seemed like a really cool company, and the app was super easy to use and the price was alright. But, when it came down to action and results, they really lacked. My wife lost her wedding rings and it took them over a week and we still didn’t get a response on our claim.”
— Brian W.
“I honestly was in disbelief at how painless and efficient the process was. I submitted my claim, heard back from someone on the Lemonade team within minutes. The claim was thoroughly addressed and resolved within one day.”
— Bea S.
“I obtained this insurance and paid my premium. Then, I get an email that they can cover my home because their records showed it was a mobile home. I sent them proof of the county site stating the type of home it was, then they asked for photos and I sent them. They asked for more information and I sent them. I never heard back from them. I emailed them asking for status and then I get an email stating my account is scheduled for cancellation. I was never aware of this, and they never gave me a definitive answer after all the proof I sent.”
— Jessica R.
Is Lemonade Homeowners Insurance Best For You?
If you’re looking for a home insurance provider with a charitable business model that pays out claims quickly and offers hassle-free sign-up, claims filing and customer service through its mobile app, we recommend getting a quote from Lemonade. However, before purchasing a policy, it’s important to compare your custom rates and offers with other home insurance companies.
We recommend obtaining quotes from at least three companies to make sure you choose the right home insurance policy for you. A few other top home insurance options include Allstate and Travelers. Allstate provides impressive coverage and has a strong reputation in the industry, and Travelers offers a unique deductible credit that can help lower your out-of-pocket expenses during a claim each year you stay with the company.
Frequently Asked Questions about Lemonade Home Insurance
Lemonade’s homeowners insurance policies are comprehensive and include all the standard coverage categories that most insurers offer, such as dwelling, liability and personal property when they’re impacted by an unexpected event.
However, like all home insurance carriers, it doesn’t cover damage to your home’s structure or your personal property from floods. It also doesn’t cover earthquakes, but extra coverage for those can be added to your policy if you live in California or Arkansas.
Lemonade holds what it asserts is the world record for the fastest-paid insurance claim, paying a claim in three seconds after it was filed. Its AI bot runs anti-fraud algorithms to analyze the sincerity of the claim, processes all the details, then makes a quick answer on how much money you’re owed. While every claim won’t necessarily be handled this quickly — some may require a live representative to step in — Lemonade’s overall claims process is straightforward and easier than many competitors that we reviewed.
In order to process the claims quickly, policyholders do have to submit a video recording explaining their claim.
In addition to offering homeowners insurance for single-family homes, Lemonade also offers policies for condos, co-ops, triplexes, duplexes and townhouses. It also provides term life insurance, pet insurance, renters insurance and — as of recently — auto insurance in select states.
According to Nina Rauch, Sr. Social Impact Lead at Lemonade, Lemonade is a Certified B-Corp and Public Benefit Corporation, “intent on proving that our commitment to worthy causes is hardwired in our DNA. Rauch states that “The Lemonade Giveback has supported over 100 nonprofit organizations since 2017 – and raised more than $4M for charitable causes of our policyholders choosing.”
Other Insurance Resources From MarketWatch Guides
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Methodology: Our system for ranking the best home insurance companies
Our team surveyed dozens of home insurance providers and created a scoring system to judge each company’s quality and service. We reach out for sample quotes, both over the phone and on the internet, to simulate an authentic customer experience. Here are the factors that account for our provider reviews:
- Coverage (20%): We analyze each provider’s coverage options, policy endorsements and coverage limits to determine quality of coverage.
- Customer service (15%): We also evaluate each company’s customer service options such as live chat, a customer support phone line and access to agents.
- Technology (15%): Similarly, we score providers based on their digital resources, such as a mobile app, online comparison tools and quote process.
- Reputation (15%): We gauge reputation by evaluating consumer reviews and third-party financial strength and customer experience ratings.
- Additional benefits (15%): Additionally, we weighed each company’s added benefits, including discounts and policy endorsements.
- Cost (20%): Last, we compare cost data for homes across the nation to assess how competitively priced each provider is.
Companies with the best customer service exhibit 24/7 availability, educational resources on their website, useful digital tools and a seamless claims-filing process. Providers that offer extensive discount options, endorsements, customizable coverage options and unique features score significantly higher than those that don’t, putting them toward the top of our recommendations to readers.
If you have questions about this page, please reach out to our editors at editors@marketwatchguides.com.
Bradford CuthrellAuthor
Bradford Cuthrell is a meticulous researcher and writer specializing in pet and home finance topics. He’s surveyed thousands of pet owners and homeowners, listened to hundreds of customer service calls from various home service companies and spoken with dozens of industry experts to understand homeowners’ common pain points and needs.
Rebekah YoungSenior Editor
Rebekah Young is an editor with a decade of experience in educational content and editing. Before joining the Guides Home Team to focus on home services content, she guided content strategy and edited in the insurance, venture capital, financial and health care fields. Rebekah has a bachelor’s degree in communication and English.