Lemonade Renters & Home Insurance Review
Lemonade Renters & Home Insurance Review
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Lemonade offers some of the best home and renters insurance rates we've found, but in exchange for those lower rates, you'll give up access to some extra features like specialized coverages and in-person customer support. However, for renters and homeowners looking for basic coverage at affordable rates, Lemonade is an excellent choice.
Lemonade Insurance: Excellent Rates for the Basics
Lemonade's strongest features are its low rates and easy-to-use mobile app. Prospective policyholders for both renters and home insurance can receive quotes and sign up for coverage in just a couple of minutes, and the process of doing so is very intuitive. Generally, filing claims and making adjustments to your policy are done through the app, too.
It's not a perk that directly affects customers, but we like Lemonade's Giveback program, which was launched in 2017. After operating costs and claim payouts, Lemonade donates excess premiums to charity each year. In 2019, Lemonade gave $631,542 to 26 charities.
Lemonade's website lets you make an account and get a quote online without the app, but it won't let you file claim or change your policy details. However, you can file a claim over the phone at (844) 733-8666 — handy if you need to make a claim covering your stolen smartphone, for example.
Coverage from Lemonade isn't available nationwide.
A major limiting factor for prospective Lemonade customers is its coverage area. Currently, Lemonade's policies are only available in the following states:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Renters Insurance Bottom Line: If you're looking for the lowest renters insurance rates and are OK with sacrificing endorsement options and policy add-ons, Lemonade is a great choice. Although the company has limited discounts, customers are unlikely to miss them due to Lemonade's extremely favorable base rates.
Home Insurance Bottom Line: Lemonade offers very low prices for home insurance, but Lemonade's no-frills, app-focused business model may be less appealing for homeowners than renters, as it can make it harder to file a large claim or buy a complex insurance policy.
Lemonade Renters Insurance
Compare cheap renters insurance options in your area
Lemonade Renters Insurance Coverage Options
Most renters insurance companies provide similar coverages, including personal property, liability and loss of use. However, Lemonade sets itself apart by offering its Zero Everything feature and high-limit valuables coverage.
Zero Everything: Lemonade's Zero Everything feature serves as a policy modification rather than an add-on, allowing you the option to select a $0 deductible for a higher rate. An added benefit of Zero Everything is that Lemonade guarantees not to increase your rates, as long as you only make two claims or less per year. However, this benefit is only available in some areas.
Extra Coverage: The extra coverage policy add-on allows customers to provide additional protection for items that are worth more than $1,500, such as bicycles, jewelry and art. A typical renter's policy usually excludes high-value items such as these, which are common targets for theft.
What's Covered by a Lemonade Policy? | Details |
|---|---|
| Personal property | Provides coverage for the total value of the stuff that you own up to your coverage limit. |
| Personal liability | If someone gets hurt on your property, then your personal liability coverage protects you against related medical and legal expenses. |
| Medical payments to others | Provides medical expense coverage for guests who are injured on your property. |
| Loss of use | Reimburses you for living expenses in the event that you're unable to stay in your home due to a covered loss. |
Lemonade's renters insurance discounts
While Lemonade might reduce your renters insurance rate based on your perceived risk profile — such as the age of your apartment or whether it has security systems installed — there is only one discount that renters can actively take advantage of.
Protection Equipment: Lemonade provides a discount to customers who have safety equipment installed in their home, such as a sprinkler system or a smoke alarm. Most other insurance companies provide the same discount.
Other insurance companies, like Allstate, typically offer its customers additional discounts, such as one for setting up automatic bill payment, bundling multiple policies together and going a certain period of time without filing a claim.
Lemonade renters insurance quotes comparison
While Lemonade provides limited discounts, it makes up for it by offering extremely low renters insurance rates when compared to the rates offered by its competitors. For a renters insurance policy with a $10,000 personal property coverage limit, we found that Lemonade offered rates that were half or more than half of what its competitors offered. Based on our study, you're unlikely to find better renters insurance rates through another company, regardless of the policy limits that you're searching for.
Lemonade Home Insurance
Lemonade Home Insurance Coverage Options
Lemonade's home insurance offerings are on the barebones side. Besides the standard offerings of dwelling coverage, personal property, liability and loss of use coverages, there are only a few noteworthy home coverage options.
- Water backup: Pays for damage if a sewer drain backs up into your home.
- Earthquake coverage: Pays for damage to your home from earthquakes. Only available in California and Arkansas.
- Extended reconstruction cost: Pays extra if the cost to rebuild your home exceeds normal amounts due to extenuating circumstances (such as high labor costs after a natural disaster).
- Valuables coverage: Increases the limits of coverage for high-value theft targets like jewelry and art.
What's Covered by a Lemonade Home Insurance Policy? | Details |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction costs for your home | Pays for the cost to rebuild your home if it's damaged. |
| Personal property | Pays to repair or replace your possessions if they are damaged or stolen, both inside and outside your home. |
| Personal liability | Pays when you're legally liable for another person's medical expenses or for legal fees. |
| Medical payments to others | Covers medical costs associated with injuries that occur to others on your property. |
| Loss of use | Reimburses you for living expenses if you're unable to stay in your home due to a covered loss. |
Lemonade's home insurance discounts
Lemonade offers a few basic home insurance discounts, most of which are typical of home insurance companies. The discounts for protection equipment that Lemonade does offer is also available through most other insurance companies.
- Material discount: Receive a discount if your home is made of fire-resistant materials, like masonry.
- Protection equipment discount: Receive a home insurance discount if you have protection equipment set up, such as fire and burglar alarms.
- Fire protection discount: Applies if you have things like a fire extinguisher or sprinkler system set up in your home.
- Gated community: Get a lower rate if you live in a gated community.
A notable discount that Lemonade policyholders miss out on is a bundle discount. With other insurers like State Farm and Progressive, customers can typically save around 15% on total insurance costs when they purchase homeowners and auto insurance through the same company. Lemonade doesn't offer auto insurance coverage, meaning that customers can't take advantage of this common discount.
Lemonade home insurance quotes comparison
Lemonade consistently offered the best home insurance rates across all of the home insurance policy limits that we studied, significantly outperforming its peers' rates. For a home insurance policy with a $400,000 limit, Lemonade offered an annual rate that was lower than its competitors' average by $344, which results in savings of $29 per month.
Lemonade Insurance Reviews and Ratings
Renters and homeowners shouldn't worry about whether Lemonade, a relatively new entrant in the industry, can afford to pay insurance claims, as the company is in great financial health. While Lemonade Insurance isn't rated by AM Best Rating Services, a popular insurance rating agency, it does receive a financial stability of "A" from Demotech, which evaluates the stability of regional and specialty insurers. This rating indicates Lemonade has an "exceptional" ability to pay its claims.
Lemonade scores slightly better than average for customer service based on customer complaints. The company has a lower than average customer complaint index from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) of 0.81. This indicates that policyholders have registered fewer complaints about Lemonade than a typical insurance company of its size — the national average score is 1.
Lemonade's Insurer Ratings
Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Demotech | A |
| NAIC Complaint Index | 0.81 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lemonade's renters insurance reliable?
Lemonade is a legitimate provider of renters insurance, and we can confirm that its app makes it very easy to buy and manage your policy. Most claims tend to be paid out quickly, although those that involve larger losses may be subject to more scrutiny. However, the company has yet to be tested by any major natural disasters, which often result in a massive wave of claims.
Why are Lemonade's rates for renters insurance so cheap?
Lemonade is extremely affordable compared to older, more traditional competitors in the insurance industry. This may be because of where Lemonade currently stands in its growth cycle: Many emerging startups prioritize growth over profitability, relying on the financial backing of their sponsors to seize market share at a temporary loss.
Who underwrites Lemonade insurance policies?
Lemonade underwrites its own policies, which are then reinsured by other companies — a common practice in the insurance industry. Lemonade is reinsured at Lloyd's of London, one of the world's oldest insurance and reinsurance markets.
Methodology
To compare Lemonade's rates with its competitors, we collected quotes for a sample property in Texas at four levels of coverage for renters and home insurance.
Our sample resident is a 35-year-old with good credit who lives alone.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.