Lemonade Pet Insurance Review & Costs (2024)

Lemonade’s base pet insurance plan covers accidents and illnesses. If you want coverage for routine care and wellness care, you can enroll in one of Lemonade’s preventative care plans. Lemonade also offers a range of optional add-ons that give you extended coverage for things like physical therapy, behavioral conditions and more.

When you enroll in Lemonade’s accident and illness plan, you can choose an annual coverage limit between $5,000 and $100,000. Some add-ons may increase your annual limit.

Accident and Illness Plan

The accident and illness policy helps cover the cost of diagnostics, procedures and medications when your cat or dog is injured or sick. Coverage includes chronic and hereditary conditions, as long as your pet was not showing symptoms before the time of enrollment.

The accident and illness plan covers vet bills related to:

• Hospitalization
• Diagnostics
• Lab work
• Surgery
• Emergency care
• Prescription medication
• MRIs and CT scans
• Ultrasounds
• X-rays
• And more

Covered illnesses and injuries include:

• Poisonings
• Broken bones
• Sprains
• Infections
• General sickness
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Hip dysplasia
• Hernias
• Skin conditions
• And more

Preventative Care Plans

Lemonade offers two levels of preventative care plans for adult dogs and cats — Preventative Care and Preventative Care+. It also offers a preventative care package for puppies and kittens.

The primary preventative care package for adult pets covers:

• One annual wellness exam
• One fecal or internal parasite test
• Three vaccines
• One heartworm or FeLV/FIV test
• Bloodwork

The Preventative Care+ plan includes all of the above coverages plus dental cleaning. The limit on dental cleaning is $150 annually.

For puppies and kittens, the preventative care plan includes all of the above, plus coverage for:

• An additional wellness exam and fecal or internal parasite test
• Three additional vaccines
• Spay or neuter procedures
• Microchipping
• Flea, tick or heartworm medication

Lemonade Optional Add-On Coverage

Lemonade offers several add-on options to extend your pet’s illness coverage beyond the standard base plan, including coverage for vet visit fees, dental illnesses, behavioral conditions, physical therapy, and end-of-life and remembrance fees.

It’s important to keep in mind that no pet insurance plan or add-ons will cover preexisting conditions. So if your pet breaks a bone before you purchase pet insurance, it is unlikely that your provider will cover related or ongoing treatments.

We’ve outlined each of Lemonade’s add-on options in the sections below, which include costs based on sample quotes we pulled for a 1-year-old mixed-breed dog based in Roanoke, Va. However, your add-on costs may vary depending on your pet’s age, breed and location.

Vet Visit Fees

This add-on helps cover the cost of vet visit fees when your pet gets injured or is sick, including:

• Exam fees
• Vet check-ups
• Physical consultations
• Office visits
• Emergency room visits

This add-on costs about $5 per month and covers up to the value of your annual base policy limit. Note that this add-on does not cover vet fees for preventative care.

Dental Illness

While Lemonade’s base plan does not cover treatment for dental illnesses, it offers a dental illness add-on to cover treatments like:

• Crowns
• Extractions
• Periodontal disease
• Root canals
• Dental procedures and surgeries
• Dental diagnostics

This add-on costs around $13 per month. You can receive up to $1,000 in coverage per year for dental illness costs, but keep in mind that this add-on does not cover preexisting diseases and routine cleanings.

Behavioral Conditions

If your pet develops a new behavioral condition like separation anxiety, aggression or food guarding, the behavioral conditions add-on will cover up to $1,000 annually for the cost of behavioral treatments, including:

• Diagnostics
• Prescription medications
• Therapy sessions as recommended by your veterinarian

This add-on costs around $3.50 per month, depending on the age and breed of your pet. It does not cover obedience training, puppy training or any preexisting conditions.

Physical Therapy

This add-on covers the cost of physical therapy treatments your veterinarian recommends if your pet gets sick or injured, including:

• Chiropractic care
• Hydrotherapy
• Heat therapy
• Acupuncture
• Joint mobilization
• Laser therapy
• Gait training
• Cryotherapy
• And more

The physical therapy add-on costs about $1.50 per month and covers up to the value of your base policy limit each year.

End of Life and Remembrance

In the event that your dog or cat passes away, this add-on will help cover the costs of:

• Cremation
• Memorial items
• Euthanasia

The end-of-life and remembrance add-on costs around $4 per month. There is no deductible, and costs are 100% covered up to $500. Note that funeral and burial expenses are not included.

Lemonade pet insurance policies don’t cover preexisting conditions, elective procedures, alternative treatments and more. Your exact coverages will depend on your plan and the add-on options you choose. However, Lemonade typically doesn’t cover the following:

• Preexisting conditions
• Treatment for any conditions that started during your policy waiting period
• Spaying or neutering (unless you purchase the preventative care add-on)
• Elective procedures
• Dental illnesses (unless you purchase the dental add-on)
• Preventable situations or animal neglect
• Alternatives and experimental treatments, like aromatherapy, massage, herbal remedies, CBD oil or cloning
• Non-accident- and non-illness-related treatment or expenses (unless explicitly covered by your add-on elections)

Lemonade’s exclusions are similar to other providers in the industry — notably, most pet insurance companies do not cover preexisting conditions. Similar to Embrace and some other competitors, Lemonade will cover “curable” preexisting conditions like an ear infection or giardia if your pet has not shown symptoms for at least 12 months.

As mentioned, Lemonade also offers policy add-ons that can cover care and treatments not included under its basic accident and illness plan.

Lemonade offers several options for policy deductibles, reimbursement rates and annual limits. Along with these factors, adjusting your coverage level can help you modify your monthly payments.

In general, the more coverage and higher reimbursements you opt for, the more you will pay each month.

Deductible Options

An annual deductible is what you have to pay out of pocket before Lemonade will help cover your expenses. The lower your deductible, the higher your monthly premium cost will be. Lemonade offers the following deductible options for its accident and illness plan:

• $100
• $250
• $500

Preventive care plans do not have a deductible.

Reimbursement Rates

Your reimbursement rate is the percentage of your total vet bill that Lemonade will reimburse for covered treatments after you’ve hit your deductible. A higher reimbursement rate percentage comes with a higher monthly plan cost. Lemonade offers the following reimbursement rate options:

• 70%
• 80%
• 90%

Annual Coverage Limits

Your annual limit is the maximum dollar amount that Lemonade will pay you each year to cover veterinary expenses under your plan. The higher your annual limit, the more expensive your monthly premium. Lemonade offers the following annual limit options:

• $5,000
• $10,000
• $20,000
• $50,000
• $100,000

Waiting periods are the required number of days you must wait before you can file a claim after you enroll in a new plan. If your pet becomes sick or is injured during your policy’s waiting period, your plan will not cover treatments for the ailment. Lemonade extends the following waiting periods:

• Two days for injuries (May offer shorter waiting periods depending on where you live)
• 14 days for illnesses
• Six months for cruciate ligament events (Offers 30-day waiting periods in some states)

Additionally, Lemonade has a maximum enrollment age of 14 years. Once your pet turns 14, it will no longer be eligible for a new Lemonade pet insurance policy. The age limit for some higher-risk breeds is lower than 14 years. Request a quote through Lemonade to see if your pet is eligible for coverage.

Lemonade’s waiting periods are shorter than most other providers. Here’s how Lemonade’s waiting period and age restrictions stack against its competitors:

Based on our research and in speaking with Lemonade insurance representatives, the average monthly cost for Lemonade’s base plan is around $30 per month for adult dogs and $16 for adult cats. These figures are based on quotes we gathered for a 5-year-old medium, mixed-breed dog, a 2-year-old golden retriever, a 5-year-old mixed-breed cat and a 2-year-old Siamese cat in each of the 50 states.

If you opt into a preventative care plan, your monthly premium will increase. The primary preventative care plan costs an additional $11 per month for adult cats and $18 for adult dogs. The extended Preventative Care+ plan costs about $18 per month for adult cats and $27 for adult dogs.

Puppy owners will pay about $18 per month for standard preventative coverage, while kitten owners will pay $11 per month. If you purchase the Preventative Care+ plan for a pet under 1 year old, it costs around $38 per month for kittens and $48 for puppies.

The exact monthly cost of your Lemonade pet insurance plan will depend on your pet’s age, breed and location.

Lemonade Pet Insurance Sample Premiums

To give you an idea of Lemonade’s pricing, below are sample quotes for various pets in Roanoke, Va., based on policies with a $250 deductible, an 80% reimbursement rate and a $20,000 annual coverage limit.

Lemonade had cheap policy costs due to its cost structure. “Insuretech,” a combination of the words “insurance” and “technology,” is a growing trend among major insurers like Nationwide and online banks like SoFi. These companies use online underwriting processes in place of manual underwriting. This allows the insurance company to save money on its internal risk assessment processes, which some companies elect to pass along to customers.

Lemonade leverages insurtech options to offer its customers a faster quote and a quicker approval process — most pet owners will be able to sign up for coverage in under 10 minutes. Lemonade also uses an entirely remote customer service team, allowing it to save more on the brick-and-mortar operations. While these measures allow Lemonade to offer more affordable policies, it may be worth comparing other options if in-person customer service is important to you.

Overall, Lemonade is well-rated among customers, earning 4.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. To give you an idea of current and past customers' experiences with Lemonade, we’ve included some examples of positive and negative customer reviews below.

Happy Lemonade pet insurance customers reported quick claims processing and competitive pricing:

“Super fast and easy claim refund on vet bills using the Lemonade app. Everything is user-friendly and easy to submit. Funds were in my bank account within 24 hours after submitting the claim. The prices are competitive and [Lemonade] offers preventative packages. I ended up switching to Lemonade after adopting another family member. The comparable insurance premium price for both cats with Lemonade was the same price as one cat with another provider.” – Erin, via Trustpilot

Some customers with higher-maintenance dog breeds felt that Lemonade’s monthly plans were a little expensive for the level of coverage they received:

“Although expensive, the insurance does not cover sick visits and has a pricey deductible. That said, it has been helpful to have this coverage for my labradoodle puppy who eats everything she can get her mouth on, necessitating several trips to the vet [over] the past almost two years. Reimbursement by Lemonade is usually made by the day or two following my submitting the bills.” – Lee, via Trustpilot

Dissatisfied customers most frequently complained about Lemonade’s policy excluding preexisting conditions. Some customers felt confused as to why Lemonade deems certain conditions “preexisting,” or felt the ruling on their specific case was unfair. Other customers reported that they had a hard time reaching a representative after their claim was denied.

“As I read in another review, if your pet had diarrhea before, [Lemonade] will never cover anything to do with diarrhea for [their] entire life. My pet had seizures and treatment for [her] liver, and after 12 months symptom-free she had it again. But this time the vet has confirmed it is not a liver problem and is still unknown. I wanted to get insured for the visit [but] the policy says 12 months of no symptoms or treatment for an illness can be considered cured. It is not like that in reality. My claim got denied anyway, saying that this is preexisting and [Lemonade] is not reconsidering it. This means my pet will never be considered covered for seizures of any reason, even if five years pass.” – Jason, via Trustpilot

The only way to file a pet insurance claim with Lemonade is through the company’s app. Lemonade responds to most claims within two days, with some customers reporting an even faster turnaround time. Lemonade’s unique AI-powered claims system speeds up the filing process, with Lemonade reporting that 30% of claims are approved and paid instantly.

Although Lemonade’s AI claims processing system can speed up many claims, some frustrated customers said that the AI’s responses were vague and that it was difficult to get in contact with a human representative. However, many customers found the app intuitive and the claims process to be quick and simple.

Lemonade vs. Healthy Paws

Lemonade and Healthy Paws have very similar price points and reimbursement and deductible options.

Unlike Lemonade, Healthy Paws offers unlimited annual limits on all of its plans. But if you want more add-on and plan customization options, you’ll want to go with Lemonade. Healthy Paws does not offer wellness plans or extended add-on coverage like Lemonade does.

To learn more, read our full review of Healthy Paws pet insurance.

Lemonade vs. Pumpkin

Pumpkin’s monthly rates for pet insurance are generally more expensive than Lemonade’s. However, Pumpkin includes some coverage in its base plan that Lemonade does not, like routine dental cleanings and acupuncture.

For more differences between the two providers, check out our comprehensive Lemonade vs Pumpkin review

Lemonade is available in 37 states and Washington, D.C. Lemonade is not available in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Use the dropdown below to find a top provider in your state:

While the value of pet insurance will vary on a case-by-case basis, our team found that Lemonade Pet Insurance is overall worth the price. While its policies are not as inclusive as some competing companies, its low pricing and streamlined purchase process make it a top choice for pet owners on a budget. Request a quote from Lemonade as you consider pet insurance providers — getting a quote takes less than one minute on its website.