Budget Direct Comprehensive Car Insurance

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

We have all our insurances with you after a bad experience with Coles price rise with no claim we are so happy we changed to you Show details ·  1

They truly are a scam company. I habe never claimed an insurance in my life but when someone knocked the bumper from behind they said it's 50/50 and they said excess applies. Stay away from these scammers for motor vehicle and car insurance Show details

Wasted a lot of time today and yesterday trying to update my debit card. No warning on their website that their system is down. Just found this out by speaking with staff today who said it's been like this for 2 days. Prompt kept asking for a valid expiry date when entering the correct date. Then got an SMS saying I was late with my direct debit… Read more

payment. Well, that's because your system is hopeless and you're not decent enough to have a warning on your website alerting people to this. You think your time is more valuable; it isn't. I'm finding someone else.

Extremely Disappointing Experience with Budget Direct My accident happened on 6 August 2025 — a truck drove into my stationary parked car. I contacted Budget Direct immediately. What followed has been over six months of frustration. There was constant miscommunication between departments. Every time I called, no one seemed to know what was going… Read more

on with my claim. I had to chase updates myself because nobody took ownership.

I informed them in advance that I would be overseas on a pre-planned holiday, yet they continued sending correspondence while knowing I was not in the country. The assessment process took weeks. The repairer they appointed said repairs would take months. I was also told they intended to use non-genuine parts on my two-year-old car — which I strongly disagreed with.

After five months, I finally got my car back. However, the repair was incomplete — the inside was not properly painted. I raised this immediately. Months passed with no reassessment. The repairer refused responsibility, and Budget Direct eventually told me to take the matter to Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Over 193 days later, this is still unresolved. In my experience, Budget Direct does not care about their customers once the policy is sold. The delays, poor communication, and lack of accountability have been extremely stressful.

I am currently in an unresolved dispute with Budget Direct following authorised repairs to my vehicle. The core issue is that I did not receive what was quoted and authorised, and the insurer has been unable to provide evidence that I did. The approved repair quote specified new replacement parts. However, the vehicle was returned with components… Read more

that appear repaired or reused, including panels that show signs of panel beating rather than replacement. Despite repeated requests, I was not provided with a repair report, itemised invoice, part numbers, or confirmation that new parts were supplied. The vehicle was also returned with ongoing and worsened issues, including electrical faults and alignment problems. When I raised concerns that the completed work did not align with the authorised quote, I was told I would need to fund independent diagnostics myself to establish causation — even though the insurer authorised and paid for the repairs without verifying completion. They have also left the responsibility of sourcing these invoices and reports on myself, rather than them as the customer who paid the bill to source these. This has left me with a vehicle that I cannot reasonably say was restored to pre-loss condition, and an insurer that appears unable to demonstrate that the quoted new-part repairs it paid for were actually delivered. This matter is now with AFCA. Based on my experience, I would strongly caution anyone with a complex claim to consider whether they are comfortable proceeding without clear proof that authorised new parts and repairs will actually be provided

I am writing this to warn anyone thinking of joining Budget Direct: Don't do it. My experience following a minor accident in mid-October has been a disaster from start to finish. 1. The "Online" Lie & Poor Communication Their website is full of technical errors. I couldn't lodge my claim online and was forced to call. Since I work full-time, I… Read more

asked them to contact me via email. They ignored this and kept calling during business hours when I couldn't answer. They clearly do not care about their customers' time.

2. Lazy and Conflicting Staff The staff are untrained and inconsistent.

The Odometer Issue: I needed to update my odometer. The first agent (a female) refused to help, insisting I use an email link that she never sent (and old links were expired). When I called back, a male agent updated it manually in 10 seconds. The first agent simply didn't want to do her job.

The Claim Status: The first agent told me my claim was approved and I just needed to go to the repairer. Weeks later, I found out approval was stalled because of "missing information." I had to restart the process because the first agent lied or didn't check properly.

3. Unacceptable Delays (3 Months!) I lodged my claim in mid-October. Due to their internal delays and failure to notify me or the repairer, my car is not scheduled to be fixed until January 19th. That is a 3-month wait. They do not provide a rental car for this delay, so if my car wasn't drivable, I would have been stranded.

4. The Cancellation Trap After this horrible service, I decided to cancel my policy. I tried to do it online, but their system blocked me and required a phone call to finalize it. This is a cheap tactic to stop you from leaving. Since it is the holiday period and their offices are closed, I am literally unable to cancel my policy.

They make it hard to claim, hard to fix your car, and impossible to leave. Avoid this company.

Terrible service. Had a not at fault crash with another Budget Direct member in a shopping centre where they crossed incoming and outgoing lanes and not following arrows on the road to t-bone me at a good speed from the left in the carpark. My car had to be towed from the damage the other driver caused, while the at fault drivers car was fine to… Read more

drive. My car then went to an assessor at over 40mins from my house to told it would be assessed within 10days. I call up on day 8 to check the progress only for budget direct to say they just received a note to say the repairer doesn't want to look at it. So it sat there for 8days WTH. They then proceed to tell me that I was at fault which I clearly told them no and have provided evidence, i wasnt offered a rental car only corporate discount on rental which literally only saves you $5 a day on a $65+ rental. Ive now been without a car for over 2weeks stuck at my house in the hinterland. There is even cameras above where the crash happened. Then I've been told it has to be sent to another repaired to be assessed so they book it in to a repairer which is over 1hour drive from the other repairer. The car looks clearly written off, I could tell you that from day one when the wheel is bent on the axle and the drivers side door won't open or close. Yet they havent given me any updates The car has been at the new repairer for 4 days and nothing, so it's been over 2 weeks and no progress. Never had this problem with Youi or Aami. Appalling service

I had a accident that wasnt my fault 10/10/25, still have not been contacted and it is currently 5/11/25. The queue to phone in is about a hour to get to the first person, expect then to be redirected and the same starts again. I have never been able to be helped and no one has seemed to care less about the fact I cannot work in the meantime. Budget Direct should be called Cheap & Nasty Direct. Show details

***Party at fault made the claim incluing my car. 4 months ago when I finish nightshif and waiting in my work driveway to take a left turn, suddenly two car collided in the highway and one of them lost control and ran into my care. Yes I was lucky that I came out of my car alive and safe! Then police came and towed my car and the at fault car.… Read more

Guess what, the at fault driver got him payment and all but I am the person who was about to get killed, still waiting. For absolutely no reason I was in the middle of this, car is written off, had to buy a new car for work and etc... I called them so manytime regardless of there ridiculous on hold time... I had to locate the car and tell them which was not my job! And... Still waiting for the settlement!!! If you go for a cheap budget direct car insurance. Think again! Go for RACT. AVOID BUDGET DIRECT AT ALL COST. Save yourself from hassle and time wasting dramas...

***Edit: 10/12/2025. Finally two weeks ago my settlement was finalised but it is budget direct, right? The salvage company was asking for the car location. I gave them the last know location in my knowledge. Well, guess what!?! They cannot locate the car. How is that my job to locate the car for the salvage company as well???? I already have located the car for Budget direct several times. Now, Budget Direct, PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I AM SORRY THAT SOMEBODY HIT MY BLOODY CAR. SORRY.