ExoticDirect Reviews 

My Chinchilla had to be put down cost all in £630.00 because she was not eating and apparently x rays on her head means she had dental treatment which she did not. Result of the 630 they paid 170 siting they don’t cover dental?

Typical shark 🦈 insurance it would be cheaper to pay for treatment as you go rather than pay a premium to this firm.

All in all a disgusting outfit

Tried to claim i had my guinea pig put to sleep for reasons OTHER THAN to eleviate pain and suffering and was done by a veterinary surgeon.
He was being seen by an EXOTIC SPECIALIST !!! I heartbreakingly had no other choice. If I could have saved him I would. Also got told they don't have a claims executive yet the email was signed off by the claims executive?! AVOID

Terrible company rejected my claim for my rabbits teeth so many exclusions hardly worth bothering, I'm looking elsewhere

In short, I do not recommend this company for guinea pigs. It may be different for other exotics animals but I am not the only person in these reviews having the same problems with this company. I would have given it one star but the customer service representatives are superb.

For the first year of insurance neither of my guinea pigs became ill, brilliant, renewed, no problems. I asked lots of questions when beginning the insurance and customer service were brilliant. And they have continued to be so even in difficult circumstances.

In the second year both my pigs had health issues. Payments have arrived quickly on the whole although there has been some problems with them receiving communication from my vets.

One of my pigs sadly passed away, the other continued with health issues. At renewal I was told that ANYTHING I had claimed for in the past year was now excluded from the policy (which had also had an increased monthly payment despite covering only one animal now). As an example, this included all eye problems because she'd had hay poke.

I can't take her to a new insurance company because all of these things will be pre-existing conditions but Exotics Direct will also no longer insure me for them despite the conditions developing while insured with them. (Well, there are complicated continuation of treatment caveats, that contradict how long she has to be well before the exclusions no longer apply).

Today I got an email to say that they had a question for my vets and they would only ask twice before they would close my claim and then may refuse to pay.

On the whole as a first experience of pet insurance it has been wild. I won't renew the insurance and I certainly won't insure future guinea pigs with them unless the result of my complaint is an overall change to policy as currently it is not what a reasonable person would expect.

I’ve been with Exotic Direct for almost a year now, and they’ve saved my bacon so many times.
Having rats, they are unfortunately prone to getting sick a lot, and with having a large rolling group the expenses really rack up if you look after them properly.

For an affordable monthly amount I’ve had peace of mind that if a sudden emergency surgery is needed, or someone catches pneumonia and needs ongoing care, that I don’t have to choose between an expensive loan or life saving care.

Exotic direct have been swift and clear with payments, kind when experiencing loss, and super super helpful with my previous vets were being frankly useless with sending away insurance claim forms.

Our furry family is so grateful and relieved having this company! My rats are everything to me.

Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend if you have exotics, five stars ⭐️

I have my three ferrets insured with Exotic Direct. As there aren’t as many options for exotic pets, I was nervous to have to claim (usually for my dogs and cat I shop around and have so much choice for policies). I was pleasantly surprised that our claim was settled within a week of submitting it. The only thing not covered was the admin fee that one of our vets charged for the claim form, which I had seen was stated in my policy so that’s not a problem. £65 excess is also a nice low amount. I did spot in my policy that you have to tell them if your animal gets sick or injured, even if you aren’t claiming, so I called up when I wasn’t sure if we would be spending enough to claim or not and the lady in customer service was very helpful and explained the claims process to me incase I needed to make a claim. It’s great to have peace of mind and to have been able to get our boy the treatment he needed. It would be nice to have the option for life time cover too, which is really the only part of the policy that I would change if I could, and maybe higher cover amounts too.

I was with this company for years as they are the only one that cover guinea pigs. This in itself is unfair as we as exotic pet owners have no choice and can't shop around. And don't they know it. My guinea pig needed imaging for a tooth condition, and to cut a long story short, there were some other minor things crop up on the scan. So this company have in mid policy, basically excluded every possible illness a guinea pig can get based on that scan, meaning I can't claim for anything. I will be taking this further despite knowing I won't get anywhere, but I have cancelled my policy now. I'd strongly advise that anyone looking to take a policy with them is best off saving money in an account each month to go toward vets bills. Don't give your money to this company, it isn't viable.

As a side note, the times I have been able to claim on the insurance they've immediately added it as an exclusion. And you can't get a life time policy for guinea pigs either. I am disgusted they are allowed to continue to get away with this abuse of customers because they know they are the only available company. Something the Financial Conduct Authority should really look into I feel.

This is the only UK insurer who covers ferrets, but the cover options are somewhat limited. The maximum annual cover is £1000 and they don't insure conditions that continue from one policy year to the next.

On the plus side, they are good at replying to emails and paying out claims quickly. The policy documents are clear but staff are able to explain them if you don't understand anything.

Disgraceful company, will not be using this company again , will not pay up when we were in the right all along , will be issuing a formal complaint.

Ask you to hold and when you give up and choose the option to leave a message their outgoing message says Our office is currently closed!

I feel that I should provide some comments on the reviews, don’t be misled by the 5 stars - on first review Exotic Direct can be considered to be an excellent company they are the only one I have found that issues hamsters, guinea pigs and rats. When we initially made claims for a fist time for a condition they paid promptly, however they then excluded that condition for the following years and anything they consider related. They exclusions are broadly worded. When you have a poorly pet they are likely to keep needing treatment for the same thing.
You also have to be very very careful and read all the terms and conditions as there are some doozies buried deep. If your pet needs imaging etc and it’s not an emergency, then they either won’t pay or only 50% if you don’t get their prior approval that they don’t give. And then it’s what they deem an emergency, even challenged by the vet – we needed imaging as our pet wasn’t eating or drinking and sinking fast but they couldn’t work out what was wrong, but because it wasn’t an emergency appointment they won’t fully pay, I had read the T&Cs but had missed this!!!
Maybe they are better with ”wolves” I would only recommend them for that late night emergency cover when you need it not routine stuff, and then even the emergency stuff start saving as they wont cover it in the following year policy.

Absolute disgusting company 😡 I’ve been with them for years now and the first time I try to make a claim they refused it, they came up with some excuse that my bird had already had his condition previous to my claim, this so wasn’t the case and I had to get proof from my vet and they finally said the claim was accept but they are not even paying half 😡 they came up with another load of bulls..t excuses as to why they won’t pay the full amount. I DO NOT recommend this company to anyone, they are rip off merchants and I have cancelled all my policies with them now..,.they weren’t there when we needed them and I’m severely out of pocket now.

I had been a loyal customer for several years, however, I was deeply disappointed to discover my latest policy renewal not only contained some frankly abhorrent exclusions regarding one of my guinea pigs long term health issues, but they had also upped my premiums by almost £10 a month, despite the coverage having been significantly reduced. Given these circumstances, I was left with no choice but to terminate my policy. Feeling very angry, cheated and upset by this company's actions. AVOID.

Inexperienced claims team. They initially declined my claim on the basis that they have a 14 day exclusion period, we had to explain to them that this is only applicable to illness not injury and our pet suffered an injury - a broken leg. They overturned the decision and accepted the claim (although we shouldn't have to do that, it's a waste of our time). I then submitted additional costs for which they charged an additional excess, even though it was part of the same issue (as they agreed in a prior email) and the 90 day treatment period hadn't been breached. It was 76 days between the end of initial treatment and the condition resurfacing, during which we had spoken to the vet and booked in further Xrays. And whilst the Xrays were taken at the 96 day mark, due to a lack of availability, Metacam (a pain relieving drug prescribed by the vet for this animal specifically) was administered in the run up to the appointment and fell within the 90 day period. And vet prescribed medication falls under the definition of "treatment" and therefore should've been a continuation with no further excess, but of course, their claims team can't even distinguish between an injury and illness so how can they be trusted to understand how their own treatment clause works.

I wouldn’t even give them 1 star! Doing everything possible to avoid paying my claim. Awful customer service staff especially the team leader. Trying to make me pay an administrative fee for requesting a SAR of £15. I’ve contacted the ICO and this isn’t correct. Steer well clear. I now have a complaint against them.

After 10 years of insuring my beloved pets with Exotic Direct, I can confidently I'm a very happy customer. When it comes to unique and often misunderstood pets not all companies offer insurance but Exotic Direct has consistently provided that peace of mind. I saw a lot of negative reviews so wanted to share my experience.

Ease of Claiming:
One of the most stressful aspects of pet insurance is the claims process. Exotic Direct makes it remarkably simple. I have simply given my cover details to my vet who claim on my behalf. In my experience, every claim I've submitted has been processed quickly and efficiently.

Success Rate:
I'm happy to report that every single claim I've filed with Exotic Direct over the past decade has been successful. Some have been a lot of money. There have been some comments about not paying - they are very clear in their terms what they will not cover or what they will partially cover. Scans is a good example for me where I have expected and had them pay 50%.

10 Years of Trust:
My long-term relationship with Exotic Direct speaks volumes. They've been there through routine check-ups, unexpected illnesses, and emergencies. Their commitment to providing comprehensive coverage for exotic pets is unmatched. Knowing I have them in my corner gives me the confidence to provide the best possible care for my animals without worrying about the financial burden.

Room for improvement:
If there was one thing that I wish would change it is the robotic and automatic "exclusions" that appear when renewing. They often exclude anything that has occurred in the previous year so you won't get cover for ongoing issues (at least for my pets). One annoying example was and eye injury - which was clearly an accident and a trauma - but anything to do with eyes was excluded for the next year. I tried to call to discuss but there wasn't any leeway. This only started happening when the company was acquired by PetCover Group. The experience has changed slightly since then.

I made a claim for my leopard gecko as he needed to have a small surgery to remove an abscess. The insurance people i spoke to were incredibly helpful and everything was approved and came through very quickly. I found the form to be a little confusing at times I wasn't sure how to interpret 'treatment' does that include just basic health checkups or is 'treatment' when the animal receives some sort of medication or procedure?

What a scam of a company. I insured one bird and was fairly happy. I got a new bird and ask to have her put on my policy, Oh yeah they have added her alright. They are charging me roughly the same price as the other bird yup that’s ok no issue there but what they have gone and done is now shared the policy between the 2 birds. They haven’t even increase anything on the policy at all just simply shared the policy between the two birds so what is it I’m paying for??????? Absolutely conning people

Took 3 weeks to process claim for treatment for my guinea pig. Eventually came back to say they’d not cover it as the abscess on the guinea pig was caused by my other pig and this was excluded. Guinea pigs need to live in pairs so this seems bonkers. The claim was for £100 odd quid so not much. I’ve told them to cancel the policy as seems they have an exclusion for everything and so cover is utterly pointless. Really old fashioned paper approach to claims. I wish pet plan covered guinea pigs.

This company is a scam. I phoned while standing in the vets to see if the operation she was about to receive was covered. I was told that they were 99% sure it was but I would have to put a claim in to be 100%. I asked the representative twice and again she said yes. So i went ahead with the surgery. Turns out that there was a clause that didn't cover it and now I am left with a £900 bill that I can not afford. I disputed their decision and they stilll said they won't pay out even after listen to to call where i was told i was covered. They mislead me in to thinking i could go ahead with the operation. They are very quick to tell you to go to the Financial Ombudsman if i am not happy which is very suspicious to me. My liitle budgie made it through her operation but died of complications a week later...As you can see in the reply below even though i was told that i would be covered they will not honour it. and say i need to speak to the ombudsman. If you tell some one the operation is covered you should honour what they have been told not palm the off to the ombudsman. Please all change the search engine to most recent review and you will see that since they were taken over recently they have upset alot of people