Some things should just be easy and reliable. We think banking is one of them. Our partners at Lemonade think that insurance is another. Let’s hear from them!
What does Lemonade do, and what makes you different?
In a nutshell: Lemonade is a digital insurer, designed for the 21st century. Powered by artificial intelligence and behavioral economics, Lemonade is based on transparency and trust as its essential foundations. Using tech and a new business model, Lemonade aims to make insurance lovable, giving consumers an experience that is fast, simple, and socially impactful, since they can choose a charity to donate their unclaimed premiums to.
As for our products, we offer homeowners and renters insurance as well as pet health insurance and term life insurance in the United States, contents and liability insurance in Germany and the Netherlands and renters insurance in France.
You can think of Lemonade as a tech company doing insurance, and not the other way around - even though we are a fully regulated insurance carrier - we underwrite the risk and we are regulated by state regulators in the US and EU regulators across Europe.
Lemonade is built wholly on a digital substrate: When buying a policy, it takes a couple of seconds to chat with our bot AI Maya to get insured. Similarly, our claims process is handled by AI Jim, our claims bot. Unlike most traditional players, we offer a 100% digital experience, with insurance contracts that can be canceled at any time or customized with a couple of taps on your phone.
Last but not least: We’ve made social good a cornerstone of our business model. Unlike any other insurance company, we donate all unclaimed premiums to charity in what’s called the annual Giveback. More on that later.
What’s your story, how did it all start?
Lemonade was founded by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, tech veterans who didn’t know anything about insurance - but understood that the current state of the insurance industry was frustrating, outdated, and brought out the worst behavior in people. That’s how Lemonade’s mission statement came to life - to make insurance lovable. We’re using technology to bring insurance into the 21st century, but we’re also transforming the very fundamental business model. Instead of making our money from denying claims, we treat premiums as if it’s our customers’ money, take a flat fee for our services, and return what’s left to causes our customers choose. That way, we align our interests with our customers, and society gets a push for the better.
Did the pandemic have an impact on your business?
The performance of Lemonade over the course of the last year has been little impacted by the pandemic - much to our relief. The business has proven itself to be more resilient and strong - being built digitally means our bots AI Maya can continue to sell insurance policies and help customers, and AI Jim can pay claims - 24/7 - despite the pandemic. Being digital has also allowed us not only to continue expanding geographically with our launch in the Netherlands and France, but also to launch new products such as Pet Health insurance and Term Life insurance in the U.S, and take Lemonade public on the NYSE ($LMND), all while our teams worked from home. In fact, Lemonade was even granted several awards during this past year: In the Netherlands we were ranked ‘Best Product’ by the Consumer’s Association (Consumentenbond) as well as rated with 5 stars on product quality by Moneyview. In addition, we received top ratings in the frame of a Focus-Money study evaluating our digital services in Germany.
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Can you tell us more about how you give back to causes users care about?
As a certified B-Corp, we are committed to a double bottom line, using business as a force for good. The Lemonade Giveback is dependent upon the good fortune and good will of our customers, and as our community grows, so does the potential of Giveback. Let me explain: Giveback was designed to change the relationship between us (the insurer) and our customers, by aligning our interests.Traditionally, insurance companies are perceived to be making money when saying ‘no’ to claims. Every dollar they pay out in claims is a dollar less to their bottom line. This creates an inherent conflict of interest between insurers and their customers, which brings out the very worst behavior in people (read: fraud, embellishing claims, and overall negative sentiments).
Lemonade is different. By taking a flat fee and using the rest to pay claims, we minimize conflict with our customers. If there’s leftover premium, it goes to charities chosen by customers - so Giveback is baked into our business model.
And with over $2.3 million donated to 65 nonprofit organizations worldwide (including charities in Europe such as Fairtrade Netherlands, Viva con Agua, Hôpitaux de France and others), the 2021 Giveback was our biggest one ever. We were able to donate almost twice the amount of last year which is a testament that the potential of the Giveback grows as our community grows.
Let’s spread some positivity. What motivates you to get up in the morning?
To be honest, there are many things that motivate me to get up in the morning! I’m very much looking forward to overseeing our planned European expansion. As a globally-minded company, we believe Lemonade’s product and values are universal in nature. So I’m personally looking forward to delighting customers all over Europe (and the world).
Thanks for the insights!
Did you catch the similarities between Lemonade and bunq’s story in the article? We’re always happy to partner with like- minded businesses that make the world a better place every day. Get insured quickly and easily today: just head to bunq Deals, get Lemonade insurance and have your bunq plan for 2 months for free.
Interview with Ori Hanani (VP European Operations)
