Budget Direct Car Insurance

If you’re a car enthusiast DO NOT go with budget direct. My car may not be anything special to most but it was and is to me. 1. I placed a claim due, noting I was not at fault, however had to take avoiding action due to 2 other drivers breaking road rules and collided with another car as a result (all captured on dash cam) 2. Although I had choice… Read more

of repairer selected, Budget Direct’s repairer sent me to their repairer for a quote after their own assessment 3. Budget Direct deemed my car as a total loss based on their market value assessment (which was no assessment at all) 4. As a rare vehicle with no market listing at the time, budget direct only referred to redbook, rather than seeking an expert assessor for a market valuation. 5. I disputed the outcome and raised a complaint, providing all recent saved market listings i have kept records of, as well as a recent independent assessment provided by my repairer for another recent not at fault repair. 6. Whilst waiting for a response, budget direct closed my complaint claiming they had not heard from me for a few weeks. I emailed them correspondence in waiting showing the last correspondence where they promised as response once our material was reviewed which never came, all during dates after the claimed last correspondence day that Budget direct claimed. 7. it was not until i tried following up for 3 days that i finally got a hold of someone that told me the complaint was closed, no outcome, no repair and no payout. I then requested an additional complaint and in parallel raised a complaint to the AFCA. 8. [Name Removed] was placed in charge to review my complaint and after about a week had issued his findings which was more or less the same points, once again kissing about 2 weeks’ of correspondence between myself, my repairer and the Budget direct team. 9. After raising this to the claims member responsible for my claim, she requested that I email her the missing correspondence, independent assessment and market examples. I agreed and resent all this material. 10. I received a email from [Name Removed] with an offer and I had until COB the next day to accept otherwise the offer would be withdrawn. [Name Removed] in his email also mentioned that he would contact me the next day. 11. I responded to the email stating that 1 day to consider the offer was not enough tine especially since Budget Direct had dragged this on, at this point for 2 months. 12. [Name Removed] contacted me the next day and offered to speak to his manager and seek an outcome between my independent assessment and his last offer, with a commitment to call me with an answer the following Monday. He stated that he wanted to reach an outcome with me as soon as possible and wanted to “work together”. I told him if he could reach that figure and position then I would accept provided [Name Removed] spoke to my repairer as my repairer was willing to revisit his repair costs after the market value matter was resolved. 13. the following Monday came around the I never received a call- 14. i followed up on Tuesday with no success. 15. I again followed up on Wednesday and was told by the operator on the call that they would request [Name Removed] to call me back. 16. I instead received an email saying that the case was re-reviewed and the matter was now with the AFCA. 17. For the second time, if I did not follow up, i would not have had an update. 18. I am now in limbo, as I’m relocating overseas in a month and have the car ready to go into storage.

Made two claims over three weeks. One was my fault and the other was the other driver. It took three months for them to phone me, only to cancel my insurance and registration. They wrote off the car with only twelve hours notice! No car and could not shop for a car until they paid the market value five days later. This also seemed to be lower than… Read more

other advertised cars, but at least I was paid. Could not go to work or uni for several days until I purchased another car, with the help of my family, who drove me around looking for one. The car only had panel damage and could be driven safely, so I don't understand why they could not give me more notice... I phoned the company later that night, but the person I spoke to was not helpful either. I feel I should cancel the other family cars, given the lack of communication and stress.

My experience with Budget Direct has been extremely disappointing and unfair. Since I made a claim in early March, they have told me that the repairs would take a maximum of 8 weeks. Now, almost 8 weeks later, I hear that it's nowhere near finished and will finish by July. Another 9 weeks with no guarantee, which I didn't expect; there was minor… Read more

bump at the front, and there was no visible damage outside. Even though I have premium cover, I only received three weeks of a hire car, and I have been without any car since then. Because I have not been able to work for almost 4 weeks, I am at risk of losing my job. I am going through cancer treatment, so what is put on their "high care team," which technically never existed, as there has been no care, no urgency, and no support! I'm honestly desperate; five years of loyalty and the one time I needed them, they failed me, and I feel completely let down. I strongly suggest everyone think carefully and read experiences like mine before choosing Budget Direct.

I WAS UNABLE TO SUBMIT MY CLAIM EVEN AFTER 6 ATTEMPTS. Absolute nightmare. Run away from it, as fast as you can. I tried to submit claim for a no-fault accident. I tried twice online, and 4 times through their call centre. It took 30mins each… Read more

time, but the submissions didn't go through. Apparently they raised IT ticket, and told me they'll call back. I heard nothing. When I called to check on it, they said they don't have any history of any past submission or IT ticket whatsoever. So, I was asked to raise the claim request AGAIN. It took 1 hr, and STILL DIDN'T GET SUBMITTED.

All the Customer care reps were absolute nightmares with 0 empathy. So, it's been 6 days since the accident and the claim is still NOT SUBMITTED. So decide for yourself- is it worth the cheap premium?

Sent email requesting not to auto renew as requested, policy still renewed only noticed a month later the money had been taken from my account. Still arguing with budget trying to get it backdated even though I have the email I sent and also have another policy, which means I am duel insured Show details

Regrettably I can understand why ASIC are investigating the pricing conduct of Budget Direct. I placed not only 3 cars with them to insure a couple of years ago, but also my home and contents. Each policy has consistently increased on renewal by a… Read more

staggering amount - ie circa 30% plus, despite there being no claims. In fact for one car, I just received a renewal for a price 41% higher than the prior year - and people wonder why we have an inflation problem in our country. This is price gouging to the extreme. I recommend using extreme caution when switching to this insurer if you're doing so on price.

Changed over from another insurer that i had been with for +5yrs due to price increase after price increase. Did an online quote and saved over $250yr on my premium straight away with all the exact features as my previous provider but at a lower monthly cost. Also opted to bundle the roadside assistance package as it was better value than… Read more ·  1

elsewhere. I've been a Budget Direct member now for around 5yrs now and I'm more than satisfied with my experience thus far.

Signing up to to budget direct for our car insurance was so much easier than I had anticipated, we did it all over the phone and it was very straightforward. We found them to be the cheapest car insurance for what we needed. Show details ·  1

Budget Direct is the perfect vehicle insurer for me having 3 vehicles and able to do six months at a time due to being on a pension just works perfect. Everything done online which is so easy with no hassles. Will definitely recommend to family and friends Show details ·  1

I was denied renewal of my insurance policy with Budget Direct, and this decision now needs to be disclosed to future insurers. Prior to taking out the policy, I had been involved in two accidents. This was disclosed at the time of application and accepted without issue. During the entire policy period, I made no claims and had no changes to my… Read more

driving record or circumstances.

Despite this, Budget Direct declined to renew my policy at the end of the term, citing a change in my risk profile. No clear explanation was provided as to what had changed, which I find difficult to understand given my circumstances remained the same.

While I accept that insurers may choose not to renew policies, the lack of transparency around this decision is concerning—particularly as it leaves me with a record I must now declare to other insurers.

Very poor experience. Claim took too long and was rejected even after I provided all documents and accepted fault. No support, no clear communication. Left me without a car and unable to work during a cost of living crisis. Extremely unfair and disappointing. Show details

My policy went up about 20% after three years that’s not a lot of love, open a new policy on-line you get a deal, be loyal you end up bent over, maybe i shop around my next renewal. Thanks Show details

Much then others i dont know how other insurers can justify red tape and high costs they need to work with government costs. Thank so much Budget Direct i appreiate it..pete.. Show details ·  1

After being with another major insurance company for clearly far too long I decided to try another as the ratio of the price of the policy to the value of the car simply did not make any sense. This review covers two experiences with this company. Firstly the setting up of the policy and explanation of what was, and what wasn't included was… Read more ·  1

(thankfully) pretty clear. I had given a lot of thought as what was important to me given the present set of circumstances. So far so good. Now after stating (honestly) that I had not been involved in an accident in over 40 years of driving I found myself making a phone call within 5 months of the policy date to make a claim for an accident that (even worse) was my fault. I could not have been more relieved with the customer service I received and the process that was clear, precise and surprisingly quick with my car booked for repair within the one phone call. Even more surprisingly was the nominated repairer contacting me while I was still on the phone to Budget Direct providing details of the repair dates and process etc.

I was truly impressed and said so to the Customer Service rep. I will be renewing my policy next year with Budget Direct given the Customer Service I have received thus far. I do not normally do reviews or "rate our service" type emails but I felt this review was warranted.