Lemonade Renters Insurance Review – Pros, Cons and Coverage

Quick sign-up, easily paid small claims, and helpful AI make Lemonade a no-brainer choice for renters insurance.

Lemonade is one of the top insurance companies for renters in the United States. If you are looking for renters insurance, Lemonade may be a great option. We really love how easy Lemonade makes it to sign up and get paid even small claims. In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about buying renters insurance, what it covers, and what makes Lemonade something special.

Lemonade: What You Need to Know

Lemonade is a new insurance company that offers home and renters insurance. The entire process is tech-friendly and seems designed with Millennials in mind. No more insurance brokers, either: everything is done right on the app.

Buying renters insurance is fast and done right from your phone. Click the video to learn more about Lemonade and their chatbot Maya.

Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGYTy6Oc6rA]

How Does Lemonade Renters Insurance Work?

Renting can be unpredictable. In fact, according to the Department of Justice, renters are 50% more likely to experience theft than homeowners. With so many factors outside your control, renters insurance is a plain good idea.

Lemonade renters insurance makes it so easy to cover your stuff. It’s also easy to get paid if something is damaged or stolen.

Lemonade helps people get reimbursed in case of loss or damage of their personal property. It also protects them with liability insurance and other protections, which we will go more into later.

The first step is signing up on the app. Part of that step is figuring out how much coverage to get. People should think about how much it would cost to replace their personal items.

Beyond what is normally covered in their policies, policyholders can add Extra Coverage on their jewelry, musical instruments, and fine art. With extra coverage, they'll get full replacement value of the items without a deductible.

Adding Extra Coverage is easy. Policyholders click ‘Add Extra Coverage’ on the app. They'll then upload a receipt or appraisal of their item with a photo (with the item on top of the receipt if it’s jewelry) and do that for each item.

Lemonade will review everything and approve or follow up for more info.

A great feature is if you pick ‘Extra Coverage’ when you first sign up, you get temporary coverage for 14 days, during which you can upload all the information.

Who Is Covered?

An important question is who is covered under a Lemonade renters policy? These are the answers:

• People in the same household related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, plus all their personal property
• Add a significant other for a small extra fee

Where is Lemonade Insurance Available?

Lemonade renters insurance is available in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District Of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Lemonade is working on rolling out coverage to more states in the U.S. (as well as Europe!) so continue to check back if your state isn’t covered yet.

How Much Does Lemonade Cost?

Lemonade renters insurance is a lot more affordable than you might think. Coverage starts as low as $5/month. That’s about the same price as a latte. And it’s a lot more useful.

If individuals add Extra Coverage for expensive jewelry, cameras, art, or other possessions, their monthly premiums will be a bit higher.

What Does Lemonade Renters Insurance Cover?

Lemonade covers (which means provides reimbursement for) three main categories.

1. Personal Property
2. Temporary Living Expenses
3. Personal Liability & Medical Bills

We will go into each category in detail below.

Personal Property

Personal property is covered against the perils named in your policy. Here are the most common “named perils”:

1. Fire or lightning
2. Windstorm or hail
3. Explosions
4. Riots
5. Aircraft
6. Vehicles
7. Smoke
8. Vandalism
9. Theft
10. Falling objects
11. Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
12. Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam
13. Sudden and accidental tearing, cracking, burning, or bulging
14. Freezing
15. Sudden and accidental damage due to short-circuiting
16. Volcanic eruption

A Note on Vandalism and Theft

One great thing about renters insurance is that it covers your personal property even outside your home. Meaning, if your laptop is stolen while you’re at the library, you are covered under your renters insurance policy.

What Is Not Covered?

• Losses due to earthquake and flood are not covered under normal policies
  • California and Arkansas residents can add an earthquake rider
• Losses due to personal negligence are not covered
  • If your bike was stolen because you forgot to lock it, you are on your own
• Roommates and their personal property are not covered
  • They must buy their own policies

Extra Coverage

For people with high-value items. Insure valuables against being lost, stolen, or damaged up to the following limits. Pay no deductible on these items and get the full replacement cost.

• Engagement Jewelry up to $40K; anything over is on a case by case basis
• Non Engagement Jewelry up to $25K; $15K per item.
• Art up to $20K per item and total.
• Bikes up to $10K per item and $15k total.
• Cameras up to $10K per item; $20K total.
• Musical Instruments up to $20k per item and total.

Deductibles

Typically, Lemonade customers can choose their deductible (meaning the upfront cost they must pay for any claim).

Depending on location, options are $250, $500, $1,000, or $2,500.

Higher deductibles mean lower monthly premiums and vice versa.

Temporary Living Expenses

If your home became uninhabitable due to a covered peril, you would be reimbursed for your hotel stay (up to a certain limit). You might also get reimbursed for costs related to laundry and eating out.

Personal Liability and Medical Payments

Personal liability insurance covers you if you cause bodily injury or damage to property or other people’s property at your home or anywhere else. This means if you spill a drink on someone’s laptop at a cafe, you may be covered.

Most policy coverage limits are set at $100k. You can increase your coverage limit in many states up to $1,000,000.

Some scenarios it may help with are:

• If you need a lawyer to defend you in court
• Medical payments coverage
• Property damage payments
• Damages that members of your household cause to others
• Damages that your pet causes to others

For example, your pet bit someone. Imagine a visitor slipped and fell at your home and is suing you. Personal liability insurance pays for your lawyer and other defense fees.

With personal liability insurance, you are protected up to your given limit.

Dog Bite Restrictions

Dog bites are covered given the following conditions.

• The victim cannot be someone covered under your policy already
• The dog doesn’t have a history of biting
• The dog isn’t considered a “vicious” dog breed

Excluded “vicious” dog breeds are Akitas, Alaskan Malamutes, Chows, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds, Great Danes, Malamutes, Presa Canarios, Rottweilers, Siberian Huskies, and Staffordshire Terriers.

If your seeing eye dog or service animal is a “vicious breed” it is still covered.

Lemonade Renters Insurance Features

• Started in 2016 by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger
• Headquartered in New York City
• Built on a digital substrate powered by behavioral economics
• Homeowners, renters, co-op, condo, pet, and life insurance policies
• No insurance brokers
• Instant quotes
• Built-in social good Giveback program
• Fast payout of claims
• 2020 Giveback program donated more than $1.1 million to 34 nonprofits
• Average handling time of claims is one day
• Partners with 3rd party agencies to handle in-person visits if needed

Pros and Cons of Lemonade Renters Insurance

By now you have some idea of how Lemonade renters insurance works. Here we will go into some of the pros and cons that will help you make a decision.

Pros

• Signing up is easy
• 25% of claims are paid in three seconds!
• Paying out small claims is easy
• Giveback program helps charities around the world
• A social good program encourages claim makers to be truthful
• Simple to add Extra Coverage items through the app

Cons

• Only been in business since 2016
• Losing money on claims – means premiums may increase
• Using the app is required (non-smartphone users need not apply)
• Giveback could be erased by a large number of claims (2017 was one of the worst ever years for insurers)
• Outsources on-site visits to a third party
• Discounts on Lemonade Renters Insurance
• Lemonade does not offer bundle discounts on its home insurance.

Lemonade Renters Insurance Customer Reviews

We did some research around the Internet to see what people were saying about Lemonade renters insurance. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Lemonade is rated #1 for renters insurance on Clearsurance.com. It has a total of 2223 reviews as of August 9th, 2021. 97% of customers rated their claims experience positively.

This positive review is representative of most of the reviews on the site.

“Honestly this was an amazing experience. I had claim money within days of the incident occurring. The experience of filing the claim was entirely through the app, which was amazing because I could do it at my own pace. A total breeze, made the experience of having my stuff stolen a lot more bearable.” - freshbig9

How to Apply for Lemonade Renters Insurance

Applying for Lemonade home insurance is easy with your laptop or smartphone.

On the Web

1. Go to www.lemonade.com.

2. Click “Check Prices”.
3. You will be assisted by Maya, Lemonade’s AI insurance assistant.

4. Fill in your name and home address.
5. Check that you rent.

6. Answer questions about whether you have roommates, pets, burglar alarms, and fire alarms.

7. It will ask you if you have an existing renters insurance policy. If so, Lemonade will handle the switch.
8. Your quote is calculated instantly on the spot. At this point, you can make changes to your policy (deductible, coverage limits) and add Extra Coverage for valuables.
9. After payment, your policy will be emailed to you, effective at midnight the next day or on a date you chose.

By App

1. Download the Lemonade App on Google Play or the Apple Store.
2. Open the app and create an account.
3. Type in your home address.
4. You will answer questions about roommates, burglar alarms, and fire alarms.
5. Based on your information your quote will be calculated instantly.
6. Make any changes you would like and add Extra Coverage for valuable items such as for jewelry, fine art, and instruments.

By Phone

If you're impaired and unable to get a quote online, the team at Lemonade can help.

How to File an Insurance Claim with Lemonade

Filing an insurance claim with Lemonade is easy. It is only possible on the app.

By App

1. Hit the Claim button on your Lemonade app on iOS or Android.
2. Record a short video describing what happened.
3. Submit any receipts or police reports you have relating to the incident.

Lemonade may request receipts or other documentation of ownership of items. It is a good rule of thumb to save receipts on all big-ticket items you own.

How to Contact Lemonade

Address: Headquarters 5 Crosby Street New York, NY 10004-2434

Customer service: (844) 733-8666 (Policyholders experiencing an emergency should also call this number.)

Website: www.lemonade.com Email support: [email protected] Instagram: www.instagram.com/lemonade_inc/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/lemonade Twitter: @lemonade_inc

Does Lemonade Offer Other Kinds of Insurance?

Lemonade offers home insurance, condo insurance, co-op insurance, pet insurance, and life insurance.

Summary

Lemonade is perfectly designed for renters insurance. It's a simple product that fits well with Lemonade’s stripped-down style. Lemonade's chatbots can handle the small stuff, making it cost-effective to settle and pay small claims.

With traditional providers, the claims filing process is onerous. People get discouraged from filing small claims. Lemonade is different.

City living poses many perils, like unknown house guests and cafe laptop snatchers. Lemonade returns the peace of mind that the concrete jungle takes.

It is refreshing to see an insurance product that works with young people’s lifestyles. It is not trying to be intimidating or complicated.

But a little peace of mind in an unpredictable world, and you can expect your claim to actually be paid? That’s worth more than $5/month.