Insurtech Lemonade caps maximum claims payments for gun owners
Insurtech Lemonade has said it is capping claims payments for loss of firearms at $2,500. The firm said it considers this amount "adequate" in covering the loss or theft of such property. The company said social reasons are behind the introduction of the maximum payout. As an insurance company some responsibility should lie with Lemonade to help protect its clients from damage caused by firearms, Daniel Schreiber, the firm's CEO said in a company blog. He added while it's unlikely the firm's policy will have a significant impact, he wanted Lemonade's customers to be responsible gun owners.

Online home and rental insurer Lemonade has said it is limiting its coverage for gun owners as part of its commitment to “make insurance into a social good.”

Citing the recent Las Vegas mass shooting, Lemonade CEO Daniel Schreiber blogged: “Our company, like our community, includes gun owners as well as gun control advocates. Many are both. But while we respect gun ownership, we’re not into gun worship.”

The insurer said it will limit the amount it will pay out for the damage or theft of firearms to an “entirely adequate” $2,500.

“If you own more than $2,500-worth of firearms, we recommend trying one of our competitors. They seem to all offer additional coverage. We don’t,” Schreiber wrote.

Lemonade’s policy already excludes coverage for any illegal guns or gun use, but in its revised policy it plans to add more firearms provisions to exclude assault rifles and add requirements that firearms be “stored securely and used responsibly” or coverage could be voided.

“As an insurance company, it falls to us to shield our customers from damage to their guns, and by their guns. It stands to reason that we want members who take the responsibilities of gun ownership as seriously as we do,” Schreiber wrote.

He said the company recognizes that guns “can be a polarizing topic” but said Lemonade was founded to “make insurance into a social good.”

“We’re under no illusion that our industry, let alone our company, can solve gun violence. But being unable to change much doesn’t give us license to change nothing. Here’s to everyone doing their part,” he wrote.

The new gun policy comes just days after Lemonade made headlines by launching a public API (application programming interface), allowing anyone to offer Lemonade policies through their apps or websites.

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Topics Carriers Gun Liability