diff --git a/hypervector/errors.py b/hypervector/errors.py
index 6a24b56..2b662bb 100644
--- a/hypervector/errors.py
+++ b/hypervector/errors.py
@@ -2,10 +2,17 @@ class APIKeyNotSetError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+class APIBaseError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 class HypervectorError(Exception):
     def __init__(self, response=None):
         self.response = response
-        self.status_code = response.status_code
+        if response:
+            self.status_code = response.status_code
+        else:
+            self.status_code = None
 
 
 
diff --git a/hypervector/resources/abstract/api_resource.py b/hypervector/resources/abstract/api_resource.py
index dbec8d6..1fede2d 100644
--- a/hypervector/resources/abstract/api_resource.py
+++ b/hypervector/resources/abstract/api_resource.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import requests
 import hypervector
-from hypervector.errors import APIKeyNotSetError, HypervectorError
+from hypervector.errors import APIKeyNotSetError, HypervectorError, APIBaseError
 
 
 class APIResource:
@@ -19,15 +19,23 @@ def get_headers(cls):
     @classmethod
     def get(cls, uuid):
         endpoint = f'{hypervector.API_BASE}/{cls.resource_name}/{uuid}'
-        response = requests.get(endpoint, headers=cls.get_headers())
+        try:
+            response = requests.get(endpoint, headers=cls.get_headers())
+        except requests.ConnectionError:
+            raise APIBaseError
+
         if response.ok:
             return cls.from_get(response)
         else:
-            raise HypervectorError(response)
+            raise HypervectorError
 
     @classmethod
     def request(cls, endpoint, method=requests.get):
-        response = method(url=endpoint, headers=cls.get_headers())
+        try:
+            response = method(url=endpoint, headers=cls.get_headers())
+        except requests.ConnectionError:
+            raise APIBaseError
+
         if response.ok:
             return response.json()
         else: