Fast payout when claims are covered
I adopted a four year old cat and after I had him for about three months I bought an insurance plan from Lemonade with $500 deductible and 90% coverage. It was one of the cheapest on the market—I got about 15 quotes for comparison. I read the policy carefully and purchased the extra add-on for vet visits. Twelve days after I bought the policy, my cat (who had been otherwise completely healthy thus far), developed vomiting and loss of appetite for 48 hours and I took him into the emergency vet where they did diagnostic studies and eventually released him after an overnight hospital stay. The bill was over $4000. Because the illness fell within the fourteen day wait period after you purchase a policy, Lemonade denied the claim on the basis this was a preexisting condition. I suspected this would happen since it was clearly stated in the policy when I bought it that there was a waiting period, so I couldn’t really fault them. It was just really bad luck that it happened within the wait period, because he never had this issue prior to buying the policy and actually hasn’t had the issue since in the three months since the episode. I am not sure what will happen if my cat does have another episode of vomiting/loss of appetite again—whether they will never cover this symptom again, or whether they will consider it a new issue if enough time elapses. Then last month (about three months after the first hospitalization), my cat swallowed a string (which can be dangerous to cats), and I took him back to the ED where they tried to get him to vomit unsuccessfully and then did an endoscopy to remove the string (successful!). The bill was also over $4000. This time when I submitted the insurance claim, they covered it (minus $500 deductible and 10% copay, of course) within hours of submitting the claim. It was a smooth experience. All-in-all, I am grateful I got the insurance and grateful they did cover the latter claim. I don’t know if my premiums will go up next year but I’m willing to purchase another policy again from them as long as the premiums are reasonable.