Cert CII (F1, IF7 & I10)
Founder and Editor
The Exeter is fast becoming one of the most popular health insurance providers in the UK, and for a good reason. With unrestricted consultant access, an extensive hospital list and a fair approach to claims, it's easy to see why customers rate them highly. In this guide, we review The Exeter and its flagship health insurance policy Health+.
The Exeter is a Friendly Society which means that it is owned by its members (customers) rather than shareholders. While it's still a profit-making business, they don't pay dividends and instead reinvests money into improving the quality of policies, paying claims, maintaining affordable prices and ensuring its customer service is the best it can be.
To see how The Exeter compares to other leading providers, read our regularly updated guide to the best health insurance providers in the UK.
The Exeter Health+ is their market-leading private health insurance. It boasts excellent core cover and plenty of flexibility to adapt your plan to fit your requirements. In this part of our guide, we'll dig into what Health+ offers and explain what stands out against others in the private medical insurance market.
Before getting into the finer detail of The Exeter's health insurance policy Health+, we want to outline some of their policies' primary benefits (please note that some are universal to all health insurance providers).
The Exeter aims to provide a fair approach to No Claims Discounts and clearly outlines how it works in their policy documentation. Every year that you don't claim, you'll move up on a scale of 15 levels and be rewarded with a bigger discount (maximum 75%), as shown on the scale below.
Source: The Exeter Health+ Product Guide
If you do make a claim, you'll move down the scale based on the size of it, however, you'll only ever move down a maximum of three levels in a policy year, and if you don't claim, you'll start to move back up. The Exeter is one of the most generous in respect to how your claims affect your no claims discount, with many other insurers dropping you down by three levels for claims much smaller than £2000.
Source: The Exeter Health+ Product Guide
For the sake of balance, we want to point out the disadvantages of The Exeter Health Insurance, of which there are only a couple.
All Health+ policies are based on an excellent level of Core Cover, which, unlike most others, includes some outpatient treatment (surgery only). Here is a summary of what you can expect from their base product:
As for many people, cancer cover is an essential component of their health insurance; we want to focus on precisely what The Exeter includes in its core policy.
All of the following are covered in full with The Exeter's core health insurance policy:
Much like all of the UK's health insurers, The Exeter won't cover certain things and has a list of standard exclusions. While not an exhaustive list (you can refer to the policy documentation for more information), here are the main exclusions.
Many people will look to enhance their cover by adding one or more policy extras, with outpatient cover and therapy cover (physiotherapy, for example) being among the most sought after. Here is an overview of the additional options you can choose from to tailor your policy.
While The Exeter's Core Cover includes outpatient surgery, you will need to be diagnosed via the NHS before seeking private treatment unless you opt for their Outpatient cover. The Exeter gives you several options in this respect to balance the amount of cover you would like against your budget. You can choose from:
Outpatient cover includes specialist consultation fees and diagnostic tests such as x-rays and ECGs, and pathology tests at any private hospital on your hospital list.
Any outpatient diagnostic tests won't be deducted from your outpatient benefit limit by taking this option. If you opt for £500 in outpatient cover and unlimited outpatient diagnostics, only specialist consultation fees and treatments will be taken from that limit.
The Exeter gives you the same monetary options as their outpatient cover for alternative therapies (Unlimited, £1,000 and £500 per policy year, and no cover). All of the following GP or specialist referred treatments are included:
The Exeter's optional mental health cover gives you unlimited outpatient psychiatric, psychological, and cognitive behavioural treatments, with inpatient and day-patient treatment limited to 28 days.
We're not going to spend too much time explaining the intricacies of health insurance underwriting in this review, but we will highlight the options afforded to you. The Exeter gives you four options to choose from concerning policy underwriting. We suggest discussing which is best for you with your health insurance broker or The Exeter directly.
This is usually a good fit for those with a complex medical history to ensure some clarity on what is and what isn't covered. You'll provide your medical records to The Exeter, and then any exclusions will be shown on your policy certificate.
Usually, the fastest way to get a policy, moratorium underwriting, automatically excludes any pre-existing conditions you've suffered from in the five years leading up to taking out your policy. If you don't experience any symptoms or need treatment for the pre-existing condition for two years after taking out your policy, the exclusion will be removed.
This type of underwriting allows you to switch insurers and maintain the exclusions you had with your prior insurer.
Continued moratorium underwriting allows you to switch health insurance providers without starting from scratch again. For example, if you are part way through your moratorium period with another insurer and have not suffered any recurrence of symptoms, be close to having it covered by your policy.
As you might expect from a company owned by its customers, its overall customer satisfaction is among the best in the industry.
The Exeter collects customer reviews via Trustpilot, where it currently enjoys an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 742 reviews.
Customers frequently praise them for how claims are handled and how professional and considerate they are, along with the fact they are prompt with communications and provide easy to read literature and letters.
The Exeter's Health+ has scored the maximum 5-star rating from the independent rating provider Dafaqto for 2022. This rating is based on policy comprehensiveness rather than customer satisfaction. It demonstrates that The Exeter's health insurance is among the best currently available.
Based on policy comprehensiveness, a fair approach to claims, affordability and customer satisfaction, our health insurance experts have given The Exeter Health+ 4.6 out of 5. This puts them in the top three health insurers in the UK, making them a serious contender for those looking for a policy.
In February of 2022, we got quotes for The Exeter health insurance for ages in ten towns and cities across the UK. We opted for a policy with a traditional no claims discount. We set the policy excess at £250 and included £1,000 of outpatient and therapies cover. Please note that the prices below are averages of all of the locations we sampled across the UK. The cost of your policy will differ based on your postcode and many other factors.
We sincerely hope that you found this review of The Exeter's health insurance useful. It helps you understand the policies and options they offer. As we have explained, we believe that The Exeter is currently one of the best health insurance providers in the UK and, therefore, an excellent choice if you are looking for a policy. The fact that the company is owned by its customers and not shareholders is significant. It means that money can be invested into what matters most.
While The Exeter is undoubtedly one of the best providers you can choose for your health insurance, it won't necessarily make them the best for your circumstances. Before deciding to take out a policy, we strongly recommend that you request a comparison quote via our website. A qualified financial adviser will review your requirements and provide you with a comparison quote and answer any questions you may have. The service we and health insurance broker.
Disclaimer: This information is general and what is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances. Please speak with a financial adviser or do your own research before making a decision.
Chris is our resident healthcare expert and has over a decade's experience writing for and about private medical insurance and private treatment. He's a Cert CII qualified member of The Chartered Insurance Institute and his research and work are often cited in the press. Chris is also contributing writer to numerous other financial services publications.
The two ways you can get a quote for The Exeter Health+ is by requesting a comparison quote via myTribe or by visiting The Exeter's website.
Health insurance is protection policy that gives you access to private medical care in the UK when you need it.
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*Based on 461 quotes between 01/22-01/23
