Lemonade auto insurance

Overview

Lemonade, Inc. is a publicly traded (NYSE: LMND) insurance company based in New York that sells renters, homeowners, pet, life and car insurance almost entirely through its app and website. Its car product, Lemonade Car, uses smartphone telematics and mileage to set prices, and the company owns Metromile, the pay-per-mile insurer it bought in 2022. NAIC's 2025 market share report ranked Lemonade Inc Group #104 among U.S. private passenger auto insurers by direct premiums written, outside the top 100.

Car is still a small but fast-growing part of Lemonade. In its second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter the company reported $239 million of car in-force premium out of $1.43 billion overall, with car premium growing about 60% a year in early 2026. Lemonade had more than 3.3 million customers across all products. It sells only direct; there are no Lemonade agents, and more than half of new car sales in the third quarter of 2025 came from existing Lemonade customers.

As of October 2026, Lemonade's availability page lists car insurance in 12 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Florida was added on August 26, 2026, and Missouri on September 2, 2026; Lemonade says its car states now represent nearly half of the U.S. car insurance market.

History

Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger founded Lemonade and began selling renters and homeowners policies in late 2016, pitching a flat-fee model in which leftover premium goes to charities customers choose (the "Giveback"). The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2020.

Lemonade launched car insurance in Illinois in November 2021 and a week later agreed to buy Metromile, the San Francisco pay-per-mile insurer. The all-stock deal closed on July 28, 2022: Metromile shareholders received about 7.3 million Lemonade shares, and Lemonade gained more than $155 million in cash, more than $110 million in car premium, an insurance company licensed in 49 states and years of driving and claims data. The Metromile brand was set to be phased out as customers moved to the Lemonade app; see Metromile for its current status. Property and casualty policies are now issued by Lemonade Insurance Company and Metromile Insurance Company. In Texas, car policies are underwritten by Home State County Mutual Insurance Company of Waco, a county mutual insurance company arrangement (see Home State Insurance Group).

Lemonade called 2025 a year of "product optimization" for car, with new state launches and improving loss ratios, and 2026 a breakout year. On January 21, 2026 it announced Lemonade Autonomous Car, which prices miles driven by Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) at about half the human-driven per-mile rate. It rolled out in Arizona on January 26, then Oregon, and arrived in Missouri together with Lemonade Car in September 2026. Read Tesla Insurance and real-time driving data for how this compares with Tesla's own insurance.

Auto insurance coverage

Lemonade Car offers the standard coverages: liability, collision, comprehensive, uninsured/underinsured motorist protection and glass coverage for windshields and moonroofs. Lemonade says roadside assistance (towing, jump starts, tire changes and winching) is included, and the app provides emergency crash assistance, detecting a likely crash and sending help.

Electric and hybrid drivers get extra features: emergency charging if the battery runs flat, coverage for a damaged wall or portable charger, and an EV/hybrid discount. Rideshare coverage is available in some states and with some rideshare companies. Lemonade also uses mileage data to plant trees meant to offset a car's carbon emissions. Policies can be edited in the app, including limits and deductibles, and Lemonade says it can provide same-day coverage for a newly bought car.

Discounts and programs

Pricing depends heavily on the Lemonade app. In some states every driver needs the app, and turning off location services can raise the price. Lemonade says drivers who stay off the phone, avoid hard braking and speeding, keep a safe following distance and avoid night driving can unlock discounts after 30 days. Low mileage lowers the rate; this is a form of usage-based insurance, and Lemonade publishes a guide to pay-per-mile pricing in which the monthly bill is a base rate plus a per-mile charge.

Other discounts include advanced safety features (automatic braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping), bundling with Lemonade renters or homeowners insurance, a discount for homeowners even if the home is insured elsewhere, paying in full, insuring more than one car or driver, loyalty at renewal, a clean record, EVs and hybrids, and defensive driving courses in some states. Drivers worried about data collection should read what driving apps collect and how insurers use it.

Claims

Car claims are filed in the Lemonade app in a few minutes, and Lemonade says most car claims start there, often triggered by its crash detection. In its second-quarter 2026 letter, Lemonade reported that its car loss-adjustment expense ratio, the cost of handling claims as a share of premium, fell to a record 7%. Customers can also reach Lemonade at 844-733-8666.

Ratings and reputation

Lemonade says its insurer carries a financial stability rating of A (Exceptional); the company is not rated by AM Best. Lemonade has a history of losses: it reported a net loss again in the second quarter of 2026 while guiding to positive adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter. Its recent shareholder letters also disclosed extra-contractual liabilities on car claims dating from before it bought Metromile.

Lemonade was not ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Auto Insurance Study or the 2025 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. For how it compares with other app-based carriers, see digital-first car insurers: how the insurtechs work.

Who it suits

Lemonade Car suits drivers in its 12 states who drive little, are comfortable sharing location and driving data with an app, and want to manage everything on a phone. Existing Lemonade renters or home customers gain a bundle discount, and Tesla owners who use FSD (Supervised) can get some of the lowest per-mile pricing on the market where Autonomous Car is offered. It suits less well drivers who want an agent, live outside its states, or would rather not be tracked.

• Strengths: Low-mileage and safe-driving pricing; EV extras such as charger coverage and emergency charging; included roadside assistance; app-based claims with crash detection; bundling with renters, home and pet policies.
• Weaknesses: Car sold in only 12 states; app and location data required in some states; no agents; parent company still reporting net losses; not rated by AM Best or ranked by J.D. Power.

How to contact Lemonade