Insurtech pioneer Lemonade beats traditional insurers in New York
Peer-to-peer insurance start-up Lemonade has said that Google surveys show it is the top choice for home insurance among first-time buyers in New York state. The firm, which uses artificial intelligence to sell and price insurance for homeowners in the state, said the polls established that it was chosen by a almost a third of new home owners this year. Another survey puts Lemonade's share of total home insurance at 4%, a figure described as "without precedent" by Peter Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, and co-founder of Singularity University.
Lemonade, an insurance company powered by artificial intelligence, has published survey results indicating it has overtaken Allstate, GEICO, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, State Farm, USAA and all other legacy insurers amongst first-time buyers of renters insurance in New York state. According to Lemonade, the first of two Google surveys compared Lemonade’s market share in renters insurance to that of other legacy insurers, and pegged Lemonade’s overall market share at 4.2% (E: +2.1% / -1.4%).

Lemonade explained that for context: the national average market share amongst the top 10 homeowners insurance companies is 6.3%, and they’ve been in business, on average, for 104 years. Of course, Lemonade is a bit younger having launched in September.

The second Google survey was said to corroborate the 4% overall market share, while breaking it down by when respondents first bought insurance.

About 88% bought their first policy before Lemonade launched​, and among them, Lemonade’s share was correspondingly low (0.9%). However, among the 12% who entered the market this year, Lemonade showed a 27.6% share (E:+12.6/-9.8). Lemonade says that 110 million Americans rent their home, including 75% of under 35-year-olds, making this segment one of the largest and fastest growing in the industry.

The Lemonade Insurtech platform is all App based and zero paperwork. Lemonade takes a flat fee and says it gives back unclaimed money to causes policyholders care about with their ‘Giveback’ program. Lemonade seeks to pay claims within minutes.

“Attaining 4% market share in a few months, in such a competitive category, is without precedent,” said Peter Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, and cofounder of Singularity University. “As remarkable as this achievement is, however, it actually understates the Lemonade phenomenon. The vast majority of the ‘market’ bought their policy before Lemonade existed, so the more telling number is the share amongst consumers who entered the market since Lemonade did. Lemonade’s top-ranking amongst first-time-buyers is a wake-up-call for the entire industry.”

Daniel Schreiber, Lemonade CEO and cofounder, added;