Budget Direct is one of Australia's biggest insurance brands, underwritten by Auto & General Insurance. An award winning insurer who took home the the highly commended award for 'Home Insurance - Value' in the 2024 Product Awards. Customers can choose from Home Insurance, Contents Insurance, Home & Contents Insurance and Landlord Insurance.
Review by our insurance and innovations editor Gary Ross Hunter.
Budget Direct has once again received a Highly Commended award for its value for money. Its comprehensive home and contents insurance has consistently been one of the most affordable policies in the market, combining essential benefits and affordability seamlessly.
Full list of 2025 home insurance winners
Each month, we get crunching on most every home insurance product in Australia to see how they stack up. We rank over 50 products on 16 different features, including price. We end up with a single score out of 10 that helps you compare home insurance a bit faster.
We currently don't have that product, but here are others to consider:
How we picked these
Budget Direct received the following awards in the 2024 Product Awards and 2024 Customer Satisfaction Awards:
Budget Direct offers 3 home insurance policies: home and contents insurance, home insurance and contents insurance. It also has landlord insurance.
Home Insurance
Budget Direct Home Insurance is designed to protect your most important and valuable asset. This policy protects your building against fire, explosion, theft, malicious damage and many more risks. The sum insured amount is adjusted at every renewal and Budget Direct Home Insurance offers a 24-hour online claims notification system.
Contents Insurance
If you want to protect your treasured possessions and valuables, Budget Direct Contents Insurance can help. It covers your belongings against loss or damage caused by fire, explosion, theft, storm, impact and many more. The sum insured is automatically updated each time you renew your policy.
Home & Contents Insurance
If you combine Budget Direct Home Insurance with Contents Insurance and purchase a policy online, you can enjoy a discount of 30%. This means you can protect your home and your most valued belongings against everything from fire and theft to storm and explosion damage, while available options include flood, accidental damage cover, personal effects cover and motor burnout cover.
Landlord Insurance
If fire, theft or storm damage a property your Budget Direct Landlord Covers can offer the financial protection you need. It also covers loss of rent if your home is not fit to live in following an insured event, plus optional extras include tenant default cover and protection against theft and malicious damage by tenants.
Here are some other main insured events that a Budget Direct home insurance policy covers.
It's underwritten by Auto & General Insurance Company Limited. Like with most insurers, you'll need to pay an excess when you make a claim. Policies come with a cooling-off period of 21 days, which is the industry standard. This means if you want to cancel within the first 3 weeks of taking out a policy, you will be refunded in full as long as you haven't made a claim.
If you want more information on what's covered, you can see Budget Direct's product discloure statement (PDS) or check out our guide on general insured events.
"I was offered compulsory home insurance when I signed up for my home loan with my bank. I didn't realise, however, that I could use any company. I reached out to Budget Direct, and they cost about half as much as my bank. Four years later, I haven't looked back."
We highlighted some benefits that Budget Direct will cover after it has agreed to pay out a claim from an insured event. For example, if a theft (insured event) happens at your home, you could claim the expense of replacing your locks (feature).
Looking for a more tailored policy? Budget Direct offers the following optional add-ons for an extra fee.
Here are some of the main exclusions from a Budget Direct home insurance policy. This means you won't be covered for any damages, repairs or legal liability that could arise.
A number of factors can influence the cost of your Budget Direct Home Insurance premium, including:
In the insurance world, an excess is the amount you have to pay to contribute towards the cost of a claim. Depending on the cover you have in place, one or more excesses may apply to your Budget Direct Home Insurance policy. For example, you may have selected a higher excess in order to reduce your premium. In any case, the excesses that apply to your individual policy will be listed on your certificate of insurance.
There's a few ways you can save on your Budget Direct premium.
We looked at home insurance complaint data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) between July 2022 and June 2023. The data breaks down different underwriters and compares their business size to the number of complaints processed.
When comparing insurers, keep in mind that insurers with a larger market share serve more customers, so can potentially get more complaints.
Here's an overview of how Budget Direct (Auto & General) did:
When comparing insurers, keep in mind that insurers with a larger market share serve more customers and potentially get more complaints.
Budget Direct is one of Australia's most popular home insurers for a reason – it's one of the cheaper providers around. However, if you want cover for floods or accidental damage, you'll need to pay extra.
To compare Budget Direct's home insurance policies side-by-side with other providers, you can head here.
If you've held, or currently hold, a Budget Direct home insurance policy, we'd love to hear from you. Your reviews help other Australians decide if Budget Direct is right for them. Some reviews are from a survey commissioned by Finder.
All user-submitted reviews must meet our review guidelines. These set out our standards and expectations, including that the review is from by a genuine user of the relevant product or service and that it is honest, authentic and respectful. We explicitly prohibit fake or otherwise misleading reviews and we check all submissions, but we make no guarantee as to the authenticity of any published review or reviewer. Some reviews may be submitted (regardless of sentiment) in exchange for entry into any competition(s) for which we are the promoter.
Beware they are cheap but will not approve your claim
We had a big storm event comes through victoria few months ago, i filed a claim due to the storm water came in and leak through bedroom and garage. They sent building assessor who tried to search for all excuses that they would not approve the claim saying that the house was not watertighted as pre existing condition and the flushing needed to be repaired, they even put the conditions of repair to be done at no cost to them as requirement to keep the policy, i challenged the statement of flushing to be repaired and house was not watertight as pre existing condition as similar rain events came weeks after without any leaks to my house and i challenged them to came and saw themselves during the rain should there was any leaks, nobody dare to come. They only said the building inspector report said so. There is no leaks from any rain event from that time until now, I really disappointed with their decision, their explanation, and decided to cancel my policy. Hopefully this will provide insight to others that is looking to switch to them.
Frustrating customer service - 3 failed attempts to get new policy
Queued for 30 minutes the day before buying a new car to add cover for new car. Customer service person, not very experienced, spent ages trying to find my standard options on their system. Failed to do so and so I emailed them all the details. Rep said that I would get a new insurance certificate to confirm overnight, but was never sent. So next day at car dealership, had to queue for another 30 mins to confirm if my new car was insured. Rep said that even if you change you vehicle, they don't automatically send a new certificate, which I found was unusual. Requested that they send the new insurance certificate to confirm. When looking at the details of the certificate, because they couldn't find the standard features from my car on their system, they added generic text to the modifications section - Mech - Transmission change - complete wrong as there was no change to transmission! - Misc - Other modifications - what does this mean? These terms were not only incorrect, but was also so vague to be completely useless. So contacted them again, this time via their SMS service, as I didn't want to queue for another 30 minutes. After 4 attempts via the sms service, having to follow up multiple times and having to authenticate every time the service times out, they still didn't resolved the issue. Having wasted so much time to just get a new policy, I cancelled the policy. Got a new policy from Coles and saved $500! If this is the level of customer service for a new policy, I wonder what happens during a claim...avoid and go somewhere else.
Found them to be very misleading, rude and
My experience dealing with a claim that was rejected. I found the information very misleading and the staff very rude. I’m in the process of changing insurance companies
They just doubled my premium for no reason
No reason given. Dumped them
had to get a legal letter written at my own cost before they would action anything
This is a terrible company, they will make you fight tooth and nail when you have a home insurance claim which is completely valid. I was out of pocket for legal advice in which they were wrong. Now to get the money back for the advice i will have to take legal procedings although they did fulfil the claim eventually. Still out of pocket for nothing and horrible company- i have switched policies. Don't generally complain but beware!
Check the small print
There is a reason that Budget appear to be the cheapest. Check the small print to make sure that it covers all your needs. We were with Budget for 15 years. Never had a claim until a couple of years ago when we were burgled twice (both times family members were at home asleep with all doors locked). We had already paid more than ten times the amount of our claims through the insurance premiums over the years. No huge claim and the perpetrators were caught thanks to DNA from blood where they broke in. But because we made 2 claims within a 5 year period we were told we were no longer eligible to be insured with Budget. Also very unimpressed with the claims process. It took months to be paid and the claims officer was very inefficient despite receiving detailed police reports of the incident. I would never insure with them again, even if they offered it.
It's raining
Wouldn't insure our property because it was raining. We live on top of a hill 150m above sea level. Quoted the day before and when I phoned to pay the premium they stated there was an insurance embargo on our post code.
NO FLOOD COVER...CHECK YOUR POLICY
Bought a policy through Budget Direct with whom we had several policies Car and Contents. When we bought our home recently we just opened a H&C policy with them thinking it was going to be covered. A month in and I checked the policy after a storm event, no damage, but just making sure and low and behold no flood cover. Zip, none, zilch. It would cost us almost $1000.00 more per year to include flood. We have since re - insured with another company but all companies researched included flood in their general policy. AAMI, NRMA etc. I now get a refund of more than I paid for the new policy after 40 days. I was shocked actually and will rethink my other policy with my car when it falls due. So don't believe they hype or the adds. There is a reason they do not include flood in their spunky media adds. They do not cover it other than an overpriced optional extra.
Shocking experience
Worst experience I’ve had with a insurance company
Covers all necessary aspects of home insurance at a very competitive price
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I property is up for sale and is not occupied. I will like to insure it for a Month till it is sold.
Hi Deland,
Your best bet is to click on the button that says “GET DEAL” or “GET A QUOTE” and arrange a policy. You can then cancel the insurance policy on the day of settlement.
I would like to know if you offer third-party injury insurance for untenanted properties, e.g. for work by tradespeople and during home opens.
Hi Julie,
Construction insurance can offer protection that includes legal liability for workers in your home. It can be arranged pre-project or taken out as an annual policy. Here are more details.
You may want to speak to an insurer directly to confirm they’ll cover open home visits. If they won’t, you may need to find specialist cover.
Regards,
James
Is accidental damage caused by flooding covered? ( Such as from forgetting bath taps on)?
Hi Anna,
Thanks for contacting Finder.
No, Flood is not included on any of Budget Direct’s policies but you may have it added as it is one of their optional benefit. Also, each of their policy has an ‘Escape of liquid’ which will cover the damages caused by burst or leaking water pipes and overflowing sinks, basins, baths and appliances.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ash
Do you offer renters insurance for a situation where I share my house with tenants?
Hi Louise,
Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.
Insurers like Budget Direct offer renter’s insurance for shared accommodation.
You may see other brands that offer this type of home insurance from the link above. You can press the “Get a quote” button to compare quotes from different insurers.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
Dear sir/madam,
I am looking to insure a family home that was built in 2000, in Sunshine West, Vic, 3020. I have been insured with API Insurance for the last 10 years and have not claimed for anything for over 10 years. Recently APIA increased the premium to $55 a month, I decided to look for a home insurance at a cheaper rate with any suitable insurance agent.
Your help in recommending a cheaper and reasonable home insurer is appreciated.
With kind regards,
G. Seifu
Hi G,
Thanks for your message and for visiting Finder.
Ideally, it’s good to continue with the insurance company you are currently with since you’ve been with them since 2000. To understand why your home insurance has become more expensive, you may want to refer to our guide on home insurance cost across Australia. The page also provides tips to reduce your house insurance cost.
If you are decided to change providers, you may compare your options from our list of cheap home insurance. On the page is a comparison table you can use to see which insurer suits you. You can start comparing quotes between insurers by clicking on the “Get a quote” button.
As a gentle reminder, please ensure you review the relevant Product Disclosure Statements/Terms and Conditions before purchasing a policy.
Hope this helps! Feel free to message us anytime should you have further questions.
Regards,
Nikki