The Exeter Reviews 

So much pushback on helping with claims. We have had private insurance for years and never had issues like this on a simple emergency injury

I found the telephone helpline team to be friendly helpful and efficient.

Very clear process from initial contact. Operation a great success. After care has been brilliant. Very easy to sort

They managed to get me up to Harley Street clinics best consultants and best Hospital and absolutely amazed with the service and treatment I got ,thank you.

Very easy to deal with and no issues from the hospitals.

I have had a couple of issues this year and both have been resolved with no fuss, no equivalent and complete professionality by the Exeter. I have nothing but praise for this company and have been thoroughly impressed with the amount of backup I have had during the last couple of years.

Efficient and pleasant and empathetic staff

Everyone I have spoken to has been very helpful and the process has been very clear to follow.

A difficult issue was solved quickly and with full support from the claims dept at all times. Excellent service from a great insurer.

By far the best , most considerate and customer friendly health insurance company I have used . Bearing in mind previous companies have included PPP AXA Bupa and more .

I was actually able to talk to a person, who seemed very efficient. Not sure of the name but thank you. Clear parameters set in the beginning so no nasty surprises about payment.

Good customers care and clear answers

You cancelled our overseas health insurance after we had been loyal members for many years. My husband is 87 and will now find it impossible to find affordable
health insurance. I give the Exeter NO STARS for this cruel and devastating decision

Although it is usually very hard to get any contact with Exeter, when your claim is accepted, everything works very smoothly and well.

Efficient and quick to consent to a claim

Unrealistic and unfair premium annual increase

I have been a member of Exeter for 14 years starting a monthly payment of £86 pcm. Since AXA took over this company, every year my premium went up by £30 a month. This renewal, I have been quoted £326 with the excess of £350 which is £1560 more than Bupa, WPA and all the other companies annually. I am on a community rated policy which making a claim doesn’t affect the premium but if the other age group members make a claim , that will put the premium up. There is no NCD either so that is why they are trying to diminish it. Two years ago , they introduced hospital list to charge rates for the hospitals which were already included on my policy. However, this a clear attempt of pricing members out of this package which is no longer available from Exeter or any other companies. This is very frustrating and disappointing to know that loyalty doesn’t mean anything to this company,which is a disguised AXA. Literally , From £86 pcm 14 years ago with no excess to £326 pcm with £350 excess is outrageous. They refused to negotiate the premium every year as they are trying to diminish this community rated base policy. It is a real shame as I am so happy with their service and how flexible they are when making a claim.

My policy is 13494371PP01

I had issues with credit control at The London Clinic despite Exeter having paid the bills in question. Craig and Laura from Exeter Customer Services were so helpful in resolving this

Can only comment on the application/onboarding process which is abysmal. The admin staff don’t read the information in applications, ignore customer emails, then send their own ignorant emails.

In order to get a direct quote for healthcare, was forced to create an account inputting personal details on The Exeter’s website. [Why when not everyone who gets a quote will want to proceed?]

Regardless, I accepted the quote and completed the application entering all the relevant information. Once this is submitted, the form disappeared from my section of the portal! And there is no copy emailed or advisory information emailed either so was left completely in the dark. All I got was an automated acknowledgement.

No news after the submission so emailed The Exeter three times on the correct email address – I received auto acknowledgements so I know they got the emails but two of my emails were never responded to and the third received a delayed and disingenuous message that was offensive in its incompetence.

I’ve received two emails from staff at The Exeter. The first one says they’re waiting for my certificate of insurance (from my previous insurer). The problem is this email was sent over 4 hours after The Exeter received my certificate of insurance (which was acknowledged by auto email).

The second email said “we’ve now received your certificate of insurance…” – the problem with this email is that it was sent over 3 working days after they received my certificate. So no, not “now”; three days’ ago. Do they not know how to monitor, filter and progress different emails from their customers?

It further goes on to say that the date of my insurance can be backdated to the day of this email “if your policy starts today” – what do they mean “if”? It would be quicker to read the policy application and know that the policy was due to start the previous week than it was to type that grotesquely inadequate sentence.
So will it be backdated to the correct date or will I be left with a gap in my insurance (and how would that affect NCD years)?

The crowning glory of this email is where it implies that cover may not be provided. Excuse me? You took my medical information prior to issuing the quotation. You make a customised individual quotation; therefore, you have to provide the cover. (Not to mention taking my payment details.) The only reason for not providing cover would be if an applicant lied in the application and that wouldn’t prevent the provision of cover as the contract would be invalidated and could be cancelled at any point in time when the insurer became aware of the false information.

The whole idea of having private medical cover is to have peace of mind and better access to healthcare. I am, frankly, flabbergasted, that a private healthcare provider can be so poor at basic administrative processes and customer service that it makes the customer feel stressed and physically ill.

What would happen if I suffered a medical event requiring ongoing treatment in the period where The Exeter failed to activate my policy due to the incompetence of their staff/ inadequacies of the internal systems? Would that be excluded from cover?

If they do decide not to honour their quotation for cover, their tardiness and incompetence mean it will now be too late to extend cover with my previous provider and getting new cover from an alternative after a break in cover will cost more despite my years of NCD. Who regulates these providers in cases when they cause people financial harm prior to a contract being signed off?

If they can’t be trusted to get basic admin right, how can they be trusted with serious and complex healthcare provision?

Update: Since posting this review, I've just received an email from the Exeter stating that they have not received my insurance certificate! So I have:
-the automated email confirming receipt of my certificate,
-an email 3 days later stating they have my certificate
-an email today stating they don't have it

Update: Credit where it's due. Despite the generic response below, I was contacted directly (later that same day) by a New Business & Agency Team Manager who managed to complete the registration/onboarding and confirm everything in one single email.

Exeter provides a prompt, efficient, courteous service.