diff --git a/lib/recaptcha/adapters/controller_methods.rb b/lib/recaptcha/adapters/controller_methods.rb
index b9b962a..8292755 100644
--- a/lib/recaptcha/adapters/controller_methods.rb
+++ b/lib/recaptcha/adapters/controller_methods.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ def verify_recaptcha(options = {})
 
         begin
           verified = if Recaptcha.invalid_response?(recaptcha_response)
+            @_recaptcha_failure_reason = if recaptcha_response.nil?
+              "No recaptcha response/param(:action) found."
+            else
+              "Recaptcha response/param(:action) was invalid."
+            end
             false
           else
             unless options[:skip_remote_ip]
@@ -26,10 +31,21 @@ def verify_recaptcha(options = {})
 
             success, @_recaptcha_reply =
               Recaptcha.verify_via_api_call(recaptcha_response, options.merge(with_reply: true))
+            unless success
+              @_recaptcha_failure_reason = if @_recaptcha_reply["score"] &&
+                                              @_recaptcha_reply["score"].to_f < options[:minimum_score].to_f
+                "Recaptcha score didn't exceed the minimum: #{@_recaptcha_reply["score"]} < #{options[:minimum_score]}."
+              elsif @_recaptcha_reply['error-codes']
+                "Recaptcha api call returned with error-codes: #{@_recaptcha_reply['error-codes']}."
+              else
+                "Recaptcha failure after api call. Api reply: #{@_recaptcha_reply}."
+              end
+            end
             success
           end
 
           if verified
+            @_recaptcha_failure_reason = nil
             flash.delete(:recaptcha_error) if recaptcha_flash_supported? && !model
             true
           else
@@ -41,6 +57,7 @@ def verify_recaptcha(options = {})
             false
           end
         rescue Timeout::Error
+          @_recaptcha_failure_reason = "Recaptcha server unreachable."
           if Recaptcha.configuration.handle_timeouts_gracefully
             recaptcha_error(
               model,
@@ -57,13 +74,17 @@ def verify_recaptcha(options = {})
       end
 
       def verify_recaptcha!(options = {})
-        verify_recaptcha(options) || raise(VerifyError)
+        verify_recaptcha(options) || raise(VerifyError, @_recaptcha_failure_reason)
       end
 
       def recaptcha_reply
         @_recaptcha_reply if defined?(@_recaptcha_reply)
       end
 
+      def recaptcha_failure_reason
+        @_recaptcha_failure_reason
+      end
+
       def recaptcha_error(model, attribute, message)
         if model
           model.errors.add(attribute, message)
diff --git a/test/verify_test.rb b/test/verify_test.rb
index 2fb9953..4fddd72 100644
--- a/test/verify_test.rb
+++ b/test/verify_test.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ def initialize
   public :verify_recaptcha!
   public :recaptcha_reply
   public :recaptcha_response_token
+  public :recaptcha_failure_reason
 end
 
 describe 'controller helpers' do
@@ -36,6 +37,22 @@ def initialize
 
       assert_equal :foo, @controller.verify_recaptcha!
     end
+
+    it "raise with informative error message when it fails" do
+      response_hash = {
+        success: true,
+        action: 'homepage',
+        score: 0.4
+      }
+
+      expect_http_post.to_return(body: response_hash.to_json)
+
+      error = assert_raises Recaptcha::VerifyError do
+        @controller.verify_recaptcha!(minimum_score: 0.9)
+      end
+
+      assert_equal "Recaptcha score didn't exceed the minimum: 0.4 < 0.9.", error.message
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#verify_recaptcha" do
@@ -59,6 +76,7 @@ def initialize
 
       refute @controller.verify_recaptcha
       assert_equal "reCAPTCHA verification failed, please try again.", @controller.flash[:recaptcha_error]
+      assert_equal "Recaptcha failure after api call. Api reply: {\"foo\"=>\"false\", \"bar\"=>\"invalid-site-secret-key\"}.", @controller.recaptcha_failure_reason
     end
 
     it "adds an error to the model" do
@@ -79,6 +97,7 @@ def initialize
 
       assert @controller.verify_recaptcha(secret_key: key)
       assert_nil @controller.flash[:recaptcha_error]
+      assert_nil @controller.recaptcha_failure_reason
     end
 
     it "returns true on success without remote_ip" do
@@ -304,6 +323,7 @@ def initialize
       it "fails when score is below minimum_score" do
         refute verify_recaptcha(minimum_score: 0.5)
         assert_flash_error
+        assert_equal "Recaptcha score didn't exceed the minimum: 0.4 < 0.5.", @controller.recaptcha_failure_reason
       end
 
       it "fails when response doesn't include a score" do
@@ -387,6 +407,19 @@ def initialize
     end
   end
 
+  describe "recaptcha_failure_reason" do
+    let(:default_response_hash) { {
+      success: true,
+      score: 0.97,
+      'error-codes': ['some-api-error']
+    } }
+    it "contains the error-codes when reply has those" do
+      expect_http_post.to_return(body: success_body)
+      refute verify_recaptcha()
+      assert_equal "Recaptcha api call returned with error-codes: [\"some-api-error\"].", @controller.recaptcha_failure_reason
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "#recaptcha_response_token" do
     it "returns an empty string when params are empty and no action is provided" do
       @controller.params = {}