Budget Direct Car Insurance

Absolutely atrocious service from Budget Direct. After my car accident, was left balancing on an embankment for over 24 hours, yet Budget Direct failed to send a crane to safely remove it. Leaving a vehicle in such a precarious position for that long is completely unacceptable. The lack of urgency, care and support during an already stressful… Read more

situation was appalling. I expected far better from my insurer. I would not recommend Budget Direct and will never insure with them again.

25 Years of Ownership, One Minor Claim, and Suddenly I'm a High-Risk Customer I purchased my Subaru Impreza RX brand new in 2000. I owned it for about 25 years, keeping comprehensive insurance for the first 20 years before switching to third-party property insurance for the next five. **In all those years, I had never made a single insurance… Read more

claim. Not one.**

When I switched to third-party property insurance, I chose Budget Direct. Little did I know how costly that decision would eventually become.

My son, who was on his P plates, was reversing into a parking space at McDonald's when he accidentally scuffed another vehicle's bumper. It was a minor incident involving some paint transfer. He did the right thing and left his details.

The other driver's insurer, NRMA, subsequently contacted me with a bill. The bumper repair was about $600, but they also charged **14 days of hire car expenses**, bringing the total claim to around $2,400.

Fourteen days of car hire for what appeared to be a relatively minor bumper scuff seemed extraordinary to me, but I accepted that the matter needed to be resolved.

I contacted Budget Direct to make a claim, only to discover that additional age and licence-type excesses applied because my son was a P-plate driver. My total excess was $1,800.

Not exactly a pleasant surprise.

I considered paying the $2,400 myself, but ultimately decided to claim through my insurer. After all, that is why we pay for insurance. I paid the $1,800 excess, saving myself approximately $600.

**That $600 saving turned out to be one of the most expensive decisions I've ever made regarding insurance.**

When my policy came up for renewal, Budget Direct sent me a letter advising that I was now considered a high-risk customer. They said they weren't a high-risk insurer and that I would need to find insurance elsewhere.

They refused to renew my policy.

Let that sink in.

I had owned the same car since new, had approximately 25 years of claim-free history, and following one minor parking incident involving my son, Budget Direct decided I was too high-risk to insure.

The consequences were far worse than simply finding another insurer.

When applying for insurance elsewhere, you're asked whether an insurer has ever declined to renew your policy. Answering that question truthfully made it difficult to obtain cover from other insurers.

I eventually had to obtain third-party property insurance through a high-risk insurer.

**My annual premium went from approximately $600 to almost $3,000.**

That's an increase of about $2,400 per year, all because of a claim that saved me just $600.

And the financial consequences don't simply disappear after one year. A refusal to renew can continue affecting your ability to obtain affordable insurance for years afterwards.

I accept that my son caused the damage. I accept that I had to pay an excess. I'm not suggesting otherwise.

What I find completely unreasonable is the disproportionate financial fallout from one relatively minor incident after decades of responsible ownership and claim-free driving.

Had I known lodging this claim could lead Budget Direct to refuse to renew my insurance and effectively force me into the high-risk insurance market, I would have paid the $2,400 myself without a second thought.

**My advice to anyone considering Budget Direct: Don't just compare the premiums and excesses. Consider what might happen AFTER you make a claim.**

Insurance is supposed to provide peace of mind when something goes wrong. My experience with Budget Direct left me feeling that making a legitimate claim had resulted in a much larger financial penalty than the original incident.

A $600 savings on a claim could have cost me thousands of dollars in additional insurance premiums.

An incredibly disappointing experience, and one I believe other prospective customers deserve to know about.

I’ve had a great experience with Budget Direct Comprehensive Car Insurance. The policy provides good coverage, the service has been helpful, and the overall process has been easy and straightforward. I’m happy with my experience and would recommend Budget Direct to others. Show details ·  1

Really easy process. All I had to do was to find the retro number, and then all the rest just pre-filled. It was just a case of confirming and putting it in place. I was actually settling the purchase, sitting in the card dealer's office, when I did it, and it all took me about 4 minutes. Show details ·  1

I am very happy with the phone call when asking for a quote Show details ·  1

Great Value and great service would definitely recommend budget direct Show details ·  1

Consultant was very helpful and set me up with the insurance i needed Show details ·  1

Firstly, importantly, quoted price cheaper than 2 competitors by 25%. I needed to phone back to ask what the actual market value was. Phone answered promptly (a happy surprise) consultant asked identifying questions & promptly told me a very good market value. Show details ·  1

Policy was great value. It was easy to set up.  Show details ·  1

My Experience so far with Budget Direct has been excellent. Setting up my comprehensive car insurance was straight forward and hasell free. Had a claim recently put in for damage caused to my driver's side mirror. I found all the staff involved with my claim to be thorough, professional, and well mannered. The damage got repaired 10 days after making the claim, which I have thought it was impressive. Thank you Budget Direct, thumbs up from me. Show details ·  1

My first time with this co. Received fairly good price for car insurance. Show details ·  3

Thanks for your help and looking forward to help us in future as well. Show details

Insurance Misrepresentation - Last year's premium was $606.46 or $707.46 including Emergency Services Levy, GST and Stamp Duty. This year's total was $862.21 based on a $739.11 premium. That is a 22% increase, otherwise known as daylight robbery. To add insult to injury, the only way I could cancel this policy was to phone them up and put up… Read more

with their marketing and arse-covering rhetoric and a demand that I say yes to an irrelevant demand about any misrepresentation that I might make.

I had to demand that I speak to a supervisor because I would not say yes to their demand. And even then, he repeatedly asked that I say yes to an irrelevant demand meant for someone seeking insurance.

I took out cheap Third Party Property Fire & Theft some years ago. Today they describe it as a Gold Car Insurance Policy. Gold-plated bull dust. Whatever happened to truth in advertising.

Terrible experience with Budget Direct. My policy was paid in full for the entire year ahead, yet the company locked my online account and flagged a "missed payment" as an aggressive tactic to force extra, unjustified charges related to a current insurance claim repair. Holding a customer's account hostage and threatening policy cancellation over… Read more

a manufactured fee on a prepaid annual policy is unacceptable and predatory practice. Communication from the claims and review teams has been non-existent while blocking access to basic account management. Be extremely cautious if you insure your vehicle here — if you face a claim, expect administrative pressure and forced fees outside of your agreement. Case/Policy details are logged, and formal escalation to AFCA is the next step.

Formal Complaint Regarding Refusal to Renew My Car Insurance Policy I am writing to formally express my frustration and disappointment regarding Budget Direct’s decision not to renew my car insurance policy. I have been a loyal customer for the past year and have paid my premiums as required. During most of that time, I held a Victorian P… Read more

licence and have recently upgraded to a full licence.

During my policy period, I made two insurance claims. One of those claims was for an accident where I was not at fault. The second was a minor at-fault collision that occurred in heavy traffic conditions and resulted in minimal damage. There were no injuries and no major damage involved. The type of collision that can happen to anyone in heavy traffic!

Despite this, I recently received an email advising that Budget Direct would not be renewing my policy because I had made two claims while holding a P licence. When I contacted Budget Direct, I explained that I have now upgraded to a full licence. I was then advised that my case would be reviewed.

A few days later, I was informed that Budget Direct had still decided not to renew my policy because despite having a full license now, it was too early for them as I had only recently obtained my full licence one month ago. Keep in mind I am also falling under the 25+ years of age category and they still refuse! What a joke. Just to be told on the phone “sorry but that’s is our policy and that is how our company works” if that’s how the company works then the company needs a major review by higher up authority to investigate the structure of that business!!

I find this decision extremely disappointing and difficult to understand.

The entire purpose of having car insurance is to provide protection and support when accidents happen. Customers pay premiums year after year with the expectation that their insurer will be there when they need assistance. Yet after making only two claims—one of which was not even my fault—I am effectively being told that I am no longer welcome as a customer.

What concerns me most is the principle behind this decision. It feels as though customers are encouraged to purchase insurance and pay their premiums, but when they actually need to use the service they have paid for, they are later penalised for doing so.

I was repeatedly told that this decision is simply “company policy.” While I understand that businesses operate under policies and guidelines, that does not automatically make the outcome fair or reasonable. A policy can still be unfair, and in this case I strongly believe it is. Making two claims apparently falls outside of their acceptance criteria, that’s a disgrace! Seriously?

I do not believe it is reasonable to refuse renewal to a customer who has only made two claims, particularly when one of those claims was not their fault and neither incident involved major damage. The decision gives the impression that customers are acceptable while they are paying premiums, but once claims are made they become too much of a risk to keep insured. Sounds like their Ideal Customer is someone with 0 claims, hence why they used to have the 0 claims reward system that they have now stopped. But What’s the point of being an insurance if you only want customers with 0 claims?? Doesn’t make sense. And that’s a fact because you’re removing a customer after they made 2 claims! Because 2 is too much for them! What a disgrace.

Additionally I had told them that I do not believe that there should be a limit to the number of claims an individual makes as one of the main reasons people sign up for car insurance is to make claims! They then responded by saying that there are no limits to making claims and Customers are always welcome to make claims, however this sounds very contradicting!! How can you tell someone they are welcome to make claims but when customer do make claims, they get thrown away and rejected like a piece of rubbish!! There is no justice in this companies system! And someone really needs to review how this company operates!! Because this causes unsatisfied customers and stress!!

This experience has left me feeling extremely dissatisfied and let down. Instead of being treated as a valued customer, they made me feel as though I am being discarded and thrown away like I’m nothing just for having used the insurance for its intended purpose.

I believe this decision is unfair and inconsistent with the expectations most customers have when purchasing insurance. This is unacceptable and a disgrace! This is not a fair sy

I had been with this insurance company for 16 years and had consistently paid my premiums, typically between $1,500 and $2,300 annually for around 15 years. I had previously insured two cars with them, but at the time of the accident, I only had one vehicle. In April 2026, I had an accident and lodged my claim online. A couple of weeks later, I… Read more

was advised that the car was considered a total loss because the repair cost exceeded its value.

The proposed payout was shocking and did not adequately reflect the value of the upgrades and improvements I had made to the vehicle. The valuation appeared to have been based mainly on the VIN, kilometres and other standard information, without properly accounting for the upgrades.

I looked for a similar replacement vehicle but, with three dependants, a mortgage and a single income, I could not afford to purchase a new car. I therefore asked to keep the vehicle and arrange the repairs myself.

A couple of weeks later, without any warning or notification from the insurer, my vehicle was deregistered with VicRoads. I only discovered this after receiving a letter stating that VicRoads had cancelled the registration in late June 2026.

I immediately contacted the insurer, hoping they could reverse the cancellation or provide assistance. I was simply told they could not do anything and that they were sorry. No further assistance was offered.

I was left to deal with the entire process myself, including repairing the vehicle, obtaining a roadworthy certificate, undergoing a VIV inspection and completing the VicRoads registration process. At the time, I did not have the financial capacity to do this.

As a result, I was left without a usable car and without a practical way to take my children to school or get to work. This was particularly distressing after 16 years of loyalty and substantial premium payments.

The only assistance offered was to lodge another internal complaint, which I did for the second time. After lodging the complaint, however, there was complete silence from the insurer. I received no meaningful explanation, update or apology regarding what had happened or why my vehicle had been deregistered without warning.

Eventually, I gave up trying to resolve the matter and accepted the payout. However, even then, the amount I received was $1,500 less than the amount discussed with me during the earlier conversation.

Overall, I felt completely let down by the insurer. After 16 years of loyalty and consistently paying my premiums, I had expected much better communication, transparency and support. Instead, I was left to deal with the financial and practical consequences on my own, with little explanation or assistance.

They happily pocket the rent every single month, but when it comes to providing a hire car, they expect me to travel 19 km just to pick it up. What a [Content Removed]joke. That’s some cheap-[Content Removed], penny-pinching [Content Removed]. I honestly can’t imagine any reasonable person thinking this is acceptable. Show details