Budget Direct Car Insurance

Budget Direct car insurance at a glance

Winner of Money Magazine’s Insurer of the Year 2017-24
Choice of different levels of cover for your car
A range of discounts, perks and benefits to accompany your policy

About Budget Direct

Founded in 2000, Budget Direct is proud to offer award-winning insurance that has helped over 3 million Australians since its inception.

Budget Direct is underwritten by Auto & General Insurance Company Limited, an APRA-regulated Australian insurance company. Their commitment to innovation means you get all the features you’d expect in your car insurance, plus:

Flexible fortnightly, monthly and annual payment options
24/7 claims service over the phone or online
A guarantee on all authorised repairs for as long as you own the car
The choice to restrict cover to certain drivers to save on premiums
App alerts that warn you when damaging hail is approaching.

Car insurance with Budget Direct

Budget Direct provides a range of car insurance options for Australians in all states and territories. These products include:

Third Party Property Only insurance

Third Party Property Only insurance offers a basic level of protection by covering your liability for damage to other people’s property (including their car) if you’re at fault in an accident. However, it doesn’t cover your car if it’s damaged in an accident, by severe weather or malicious acts like theft. There is limited cover for damage to your car if it’s involved in a no-fault accident by an uninsured vehicle.

Third Party Property, Fire and Theft insurance

This type of cover provides the same cover as Third Party Property Only, but also includes cover for loss or damage to your car if it’s stolen or damaged by fire.

Comprehensive insurance

Comprehensive car insurance covers everything included in third party insurances as well as loss or damage to your car. If your brand new car is written off within two years or 40,000km of the original registration (whichever comes first), they will replace it with a new one.

Refer to the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) for full terms and conditions.

Why choose Budget Direct?

With Budget Direct’s smart cover options, customers can tailor a policy and its features to their individual needs. The following are examples of some policy features, benefits and options that may be available to you depending on your level of cover:

Reduced window glass excess (includes front, rear and side windows). This is an optional benefit where you’ll pay an extra fee on your premium in exchange for a lower excess if only your car’s window glass needs repairing or replacing.
Restricted driver age discounts. You can restrict your policy to drivers over certain ages. The older the age restriction, the cheaper your premium can be.
Accident hire car benefit (optional). This benefit provides you with a hire car that meets your needs after an at-fault claim while your car is repaired.
Gold Low Kilometres Policy. If your car travels less than 10,000km a year, you can receive a lower premium with this policy.

Roadside assistance can also be purchased with or without a car insurance policy.

N.B. Always carefully review each policy’s Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for full details on benefits, features, services, terms and conditions before making a decision to purchase.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a car insurance claim with Budget Direct?

If you need to make a claim with Budget Direct you can head online to book an assessment of your car’s damage. If you’d prefer to talk to a team member, you can call Budget Direct at any time, seven days a week.

Here’s some information you’ll need to help the lodge the claim:

Your Budget Direct policy number
The details of the incident, including the time, date and location
Other drivers’ names, addresses, insurance details and vehicle registration numbers
Witness’ names and contact details if applicable
Tow-truck company details if applicable
Police report number if applicable.

If your claim is accepted, Budget Direct will repair or replace your vehicle, or pay you out the market or agreed value of your car (depending on your level of cover).

What is the excess on Budget Direct car insurance?

If you’re involved in an accident and, Budget Direct deems you not at fault and the other party is identified, you won’t have to pay any excess. In other instances, you will usually have to pay the basic excess and any other additional excesses that may apply. All excesses will be listed on your Insurance Certificate.

Additional excesses may apply when the person driving your car, who is not an excluded driver but who:

Is under 21 years of age
Is between 21 to 24 years of age inclusive
Has not held a full or open Australian licence for two or more years
Is not a listed driver on your policy’s Insurance Certificate.

Low Kilometres Comprehensive policies may attract a further additional excess when the car is being driven and:

Has exceeded the agreed ‘Kilometres Per Year’ you selected
An odometer reading was not provided within 21 days of the policy start or renewal date
An invalid odometer reading was provided, such as if the odometer reading at the time of the incident is less than the one shown on your most recent Insurance Certificate.

For more detailed information on excess payments, always read your policy’s PDS.

How do I cancel my Budget Direct car insurance policy?

You may cancel your policy at any time. If you cancel your policy within 21 days of the purchase or renewal date (“cooling-off period”) and no claim is made, you will receive a full refund of the premium you have paid.

If you cancel outside the cooling-off period, you will be refunded any premium you have paid for the unused portion of your policy, less the early cancellation fee and any government taxes and charges.

To cancel your Budget Direct car insurance policy, call them directly. However, if you’re looking to switch insurers try out our car insurance comparison tool to compare great-value car insurance from other well-known brands.

Does Budget Direct car insurance offer cover for classic and vintage cars?

This depends on your car’s specifications and whether it’s modified, as well as who the regular driver is. This is particularly important if the classic or vintage car is a high-performance car. Compare Budget Direct car insurance to find out if there is a policy available for your type of car.

How to switch car insurance providers

Switching car insurance providers is easy, as you have no obligation to stick with your current insurer. Once you have replacement cover, simply call up your provider and cancel your policy. To switch over to Budget Direct, or another major brand, take advantage of our free comparison service.

Start by comparing a range of policies based on their premiums, features and benefits. Simply enter some relevant details into our comparison tool, as well as the level of cover you’re looking to take out for your car.

It takes only minutes to compare with us!