Digital Insurer Lemonade Says No License Needed by Adopters of Its API Sales Platform

By | December 11, 2017

  • December 11, 2017 at 3:27 pm
    Agent says:
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    Cool, no license needed for a complicated product that real agents use and have to have licensing tests and compliance with CE credits. Hey, it is as simple as selling Lemonade, right?

  • December 11, 2017 at 5:49 pm
    Augustine says:
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    No license, no worries! Just wait until the E&O lawsuit. Introducing any third party into the sale process of insurance is a huge regulatory gray area. It only takes one person to even make an accusation that “so and so told me that I should get this but they didn’t tell me _______ was not covered.”

    • December 11, 2017 at 6:25 pm
      CO_yeti says:
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      How many E&O lawsuits do you think get filed every year for renters and PAP policies??? It’s almost like Lemonade isn’t filled with people that are putting their company in peril and instead made a highly calculated business decision.

      Maybe they understand the marketplace and chose to launch their distribution using very low risk, but broad appeal policies….

      • December 13, 2017 at 12:08 pm
        UW says:
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        Most of the people here don’t understand Lemonade in even the most basic way, but it seems they are equally clueless on how the internet works, and now even basic insurance.

        • December 14, 2017 at 11:56 am
          Augustine says:
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          UW that is a very interesting comment. Pray tell, how did you come to the highly questionable conclusion that “most of the people” on IJ don’t understand basic insurance or the internet? I am pretty sure that most people who are lacking basic insurance knowledge and knowledge of the internet: A) Would not read articles on insurance journal, and; B) would not know how to post or comment on said articles…

          • December 14, 2017 at 6:06 pm
            UW says:
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            Good point, revise it to say most people commenting, and probably 90% of the people commenting in every story about this company.

            Posting a comment requires no real knowledge of how the internet works. It requires less knowledge than a person driving needs to know about how a car operates. But for further proof, look at your comment above specifically:you very clearly do not understand how this program works.

            Nice try at an elementary logic proof though.

          • December 14, 2017 at 6:16 pm
            Augustine says:
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            Underwriter. I have already received quotes from Lemonade because I was initially very interested in their insurance offerings. Specifically, in Texas, where I reside, I went through a dummy renter’s quote. I typically don’t arbitrarily make comments for the sake of it. I am really not sure why you are being so defensive and resorting to ad hominem attacks. You must be having a bad day…

          • December 14, 2017 at 6:25 pm
            Augustine says:
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            Just out of curiosity, since you are referencing my comment above which you seem to equate with being an example of someone who “doesn’t know insurance or understand the internet”–why do you think an E&O lawsuit is so unlikely? What about my comment specifically seems to imply that I know nothing about the internet or insurance? Also, why are you being so combative?

    • December 11, 2017 at 10:56 pm
      Einstein says:
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      You are both incorrect. If you visit Lemonade’s website you will read that:

      A) Lemonade is out to “…”transform insurance from a necessary evil into a social good…” and
      B) “…Unlike any other insurance company, we gain nothing by delaying or denying claims (we take a flat fee!), so we handle and pay most claims instantly…”

      So in other words, Lemonade will never have any E&O claims because unlike the established evil carriers that deny claims and delay payments, Lemonade isn’t in the business to make money or a profit but to “do social good” and “give back” and spread love which we all need a little bit of.

      • December 12, 2017 at 10:18 am
        Agent says:
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        Do I detect a hint of sarcasm Einstein?

  • December 11, 2017 at 5:54 pm
    Augustine says:
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    I have an idea for their next big project. They can call it Iced Tea. They can have people without law degrees giving legal advice! Just think about the demand! So much money to be made! What could go wrong?

    • December 13, 2017 at 12:00 pm
      nomesaneman says:
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      Great idea. They could package both products and call it the “Arnold Palmer”.

      • December 13, 2017 at 3:38 pm
        Agent says:
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        The Arnold Palmer companies had far more money than most insurance markets. Great tea, by the way.

  • December 12, 2017 at 1:29 pm
    lonestar says:
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    Ok, so if this company is not in the business to make any money, what is the point of the investors, investing in this company to get it started>

    • December 12, 2017 at 2:48 pm
      Rosenblatt says:
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      501(c)(3) deductions come tax time?

    • December 15, 2017 at 5:42 pm
      Agent says:
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      Must be a Progressive plot. We know they aren’t interested in the profit motive for a business.

  • December 18, 2017 at 10:24 am
    David Mitchell CIC, MBA, MA.HR says:
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    Most states still have rebate laws, and have a limit on what can be paid for a referral. In addition, if any advice is given in the transaction of insurance the person giving the advice must be appropriately licensed by the State Department of Insurance in and from the State in which it is given. Although I am not an attorney I believe there may be legal ramifications with apparent authority wherein Lemonade may be liable for advice given from unlicensed insurance producers. Stay tuned.

  • December 18, 2017 at 10:56 am
    David Mitchell CIC, MBA, MA.HR says:
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    There are State Insurance Laws regarding at a minimum two issues this article brings to the surface. I am not an attorney, however I don’t know of any state that allows people to give advice regarding an insurance transaction without the proper producer insurance licensure. Even if Lemonade says the person giving advice is not associated with them, it seems to me it will be a challenge for Lemonade to say there is not apparent authority. In addition, most if not all states have rebates laws that either prohibit paying for a referral or a limit is placed on the amount that can be provided to the one making the referral.

    • December 19, 2017 at 4:30 pm
      Agent says:
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      Lemonade should get a good D&O policy with high limits if they can find anyone to write them.

  • December 18, 2017 at 11:54 am
    Rick Brown says:
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    As a regulatory lawyer admitted in CA/NY/WA/DC, I do not see how Lemonade or its clients can avoid state licensing requirements.



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