The Exeter: most-reported complaints
Automated analysis of 338 public Trustpilot reviews published 2017-10-16 to 2026-09-25. TrustScore 4 from 1,477 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is The Exeter legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report that support is unhelpful, citing endless delays when attempting to file claims. Warranty disputes are the second most common issue, with customers expressing outrage over the treatment received during valid claims. Additionally, some reviewers note that support is unreachable, describing instances where emails and messages are ignored. Other complaints include the company stopping health insurance provision for overseas clients with one year's notice.
How to reach The Exeter
These are the contact details The Exeter publishes on its Trustpilot profile, as of our last check on 2026-09-26 — phone 0300 123 3201, email [email protected], address Emperor Way, Exeter, EX1 3FD, GB.
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2019-05-31, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-09-01. Trustpilot ranks it 130 of 138 in Insurance Company. We last checked this profile on 2026-09-26 and found 2 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Forum footprint: 258 MoneySavingExpert forum discussions mention this company (browse). Roughly 1 of the top, relevance-sorted search results were posted in the last 90 days — an approximate figure by construction, not a true recency count. Recent thread titles: “E: 10/03 ? Win two nights of luxury at st olaves hotel plus fun at the exeter festiva”, “E: 22/03 Win a pair of Day Pass tickets for the Exeter Festival of South West Food”, “E: 16/04 Win a trip to the Exeter Food Festival”.
TrustScore over time
4.0 → 4.0 across 3 census measurements since 2026-09-05. Our own record, independent of Trustpilot’s display.
Reply behaviour over time
Solid: % of negative reviews replied to. Dashed: typical days to reply. Both as reported on this company’s Trustpilot profile, recorded whenever our census re-checked it and a figure had changed — the gaps between points are not equal: 2026-09-05 (100%, 1.0d) · 2026-09-14 (100%, 1.0d) · 2026-09-26 (99%, 1.0d).
Severity: 40% of this company’s 238 graded complaints were classified as severe (money lost, an essential service cut off, or a problem unresolved for months). See the harm index.
1★ share of negative reviews over time
Share of 1–3★ Trustpilot reviews that were 1★
In November 2025, 54% of 11 one-to-three-star reviews were 1★; in May 2026, 54% of 13.
Counted from November 2025 onward — the period for which our capture of 1★, 2★ and 3★ reviews is complete for all three. Months with fewer than 10 such reviews are omitted.
Reviewers here waited a median of 1.5 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (195 reviews record both dates).
What their policy promises
complaint process: earliest opportunity
“Under our regulators rules we are required to try and resolve consumer complaints at the earliest opportunity.”
complaint process: 5 working days
“In such cases our Complaints Handler will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days”
complaint process: 20 working days
“and contact you with an update if it hasn’t been resolved in 20 working days.”
complaint process: eight weeks
“We have up to eight weeks in which to try to resolve your complaint.”
Quoted verbatim from the company’s own published policy (source page); complaint counts are census classifications. As of 2026-09-05.
Policy-page monitoring
We monitor this company’s published policy page for changes. No changes have been detected since we started watching on 2026-09-07.
Automated change detection on the company’s own published policy page — a record of when the page changed, not a judgement on what changed.
Measured reply time: across 258 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 1 days — the company profile reports an average of under a day.
Reply quality: of 258 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 40% engaged with the specific problem and 50% were generic templates.
9% of its 67 recent 5★ reviews came from accounts that had written only that one review when we captured it (the median across companies is about 39%). A high share is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fake reviews.
Sector benchmark: support unhelpful makes up 37% of this company’s complaints vs a 28% median across 148 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 351 of this company’s 1,477 Trustpilot reviews (24%) were written in the last 12 months.
What are the most common complaints about The Exeter?
Support unhelpful
87 reports · 37% of complaintsrising since 2024-11“Whenever a claim is attempted, you’re met with endless delays”
The company replied on 2025-06-06: “Hi Benj, I am really sorry to hear of the issues that your father has experienced with the claims process. We would appreciate the opportunity to investigate this further. If you are happy to provide…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I had to phone about 20 times in the past month in order to get my income protection cancelled”
The company replied on 2025-02-26: “Hi Will, I’m sorry to hear of your experience. Can you please contact us with your policy details so we can look into this further for you. Our Member Servicing Team can be contacted by email at…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“sent a bill (and many harassing letters) for full amount of the treatment as Exeter claimed the doctor was not on their list!!”
The company replied on 2024-12-31: “Hi K Senior, I am really sorry to hear about your experience. We strive to provide great service for our members and on this occasion we have clearly not met your expectations. If you would like this…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Warranty disputes
66 reports · 28% of complaintssteady“I have been outraged by the treatment given to me when I made what was a very VALID claim.”
The company replied on 2024-12-19: “Hi Warren, I am sorry to hear about your experience and that on this occasion we have not been able to meet your expectations. Our complaints team will reach out to you in line with our complaint…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
4 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Had my first ever claim paid in the best part of a thousand pounds per year to be turned down by terms and conditions”
The company replied on 2024-09-24: “Hi David, I’m sorry to hear we were unable to meet your claim due our policy terms and conditions. Without your policy number, I am unable to look into the specific reasons. If you would like to…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
4 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Exeter refused to cover the operation.”
The company replied on 2025-03-18: “Hi Gillian, thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. I am sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis. Unfortunately, because your symptoms started before your policy began, this would fall…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Support unreachable
39 reports · 16% of complaintsrising since 2024-11“ignoring emails/messages, dismissed doctors papers and refusing to pay my claim and now ignoring me”
The company replied on 2025-03-18: “Hi Ella, I am sorry to hear of your experience. Our complaints team will reach out to you in line with our complaint guidelines. Our Customer Complaints Handler will acknowledge your complaint within…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Nobody returns calls, emails beyond an acknowledgement are not answered”
The company replied on 2025-02-11: “Hi Steph, I am really sorry to hear of the issues that you have experienced with the claims process. The claims team have confirmed that your complaint is registered with them and they are currently…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“still waiting for a response from them.”
The company replied on 2024-11-06: “Hi Liz, as a mutual society we appreciate the opinions of all our members and thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We would really appreciate the opportunity to investigate this issue…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Other
22 reports · 9% of complaintsfalling“Exeter have stopped providing health insurance ( giving us all one years notice & reduced charges) for all their overseas clients.”
The company replied on 2025-07-18: “Good afternoon, thank you for your review. I’m sorry to hear that you’re unhappy with our decision to close the policy. I understand that this may be disappointing, and I’d like to assure you that it…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“This unreasonable delay invevitably reduces the probability of my survival.”
The company replied on 2026-03-26: “Hi Chris, I am really sorry to hear about your situation. We have spoken to our claims team and understand that they now have received the information needed to validate your claim. If you have any…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Two months has passed and they are still chasing paperwork they already have!”
The company replied on 2023-06-12: “Hi Selay Turkay, thank you for sharing your experience. We value your feedback and are sorry to hear about your claims experience. A member of our claims team will contact you shortly. Many thanks,…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Overcharging
20 reports · 8% of complaintssteady“sent a bill (and many harassing letters) for full amount of the treatment as Exeter claimed the doctor was not on their list!!”
The company replied on 2024-12-31: “Hi K Senior, I am really sorry to hear about your experience. We strive to provide great service for our members and on this occasion we have clearly not met your expectations. If you would like this…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I am paying double what I started with even though I don’t have a no claims policy”
The company replied on 2025-08-19: “Hi, I would like to thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and apologise that you have had a less than satisfactory experience when making a claim. As you have mentioned Axa in your…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“your fees only completely cover 3 of them”
The company replied on 2021-10-26: “Hi Angie, thank you for your feedback. We value the views of our members. If you would like to speak to us we would welcome your call. You can reach us on 0300 123 3201 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Billing errors
17 reports · 7% of complaintssteady“they keep looking for reasons not to pay me”
The company replied on 2025-08-20: “Hi, Cornel, thank you for taking the time to leave us review. I am very sorry to hear you are unhappy with the experience you have had with us and your claim. On all of our Income First policies we…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Not able to work and do not receive my payment from this insurance company”
The company replied on 2024-06-18: “Hi, Magdalena, thank you for sharing your experience. We are sorry to hear you are unable to work and have not received any payments. If you can contact our claims team with your policy details they…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“They failed to set up a DD to collect premiums, then wrote to me in February to say as two months premium have not been paid I am no longer covered.”
The company replied on 2026-02-09: “Hi Ray, I am sorry to hear of your experience. We are in the process of updating our systems. If you would like to contact us on 0300 123 3201, option 2 or email us at [email protected] we will…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Compare The Exeter with…
Method: reviews are classified into a fixed complaint taxonomy by an automated reader; every category shown is backed by at least two verbatim quotes from distinct reviews. Trends are computed from dated review counts only. Negative reviews are deliberately over-sampled for evidence depth; headline percentages use an unbiased recent sample only. Report updated 2026-09-26.