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.
GMCU home insurance is backed by Allianz, which has a strong complaints record and solid benefits. However, premiums are also more expensive than average.
Australian Unity has a strong complaints record and competitive benefits, but it’s lacking in underinsurance protection which is a popular feature offered by many other brands.
Guild does have some market-leading benefits, but it was also one of the most expensive policies we compared. Read our full review.
Great Southern Bank offers a good range of benefits but it lacks underinsurance cover and premiums are quite expensive.
Shed insurance can cover sheds of all shapes and sizes, as well as their often-valuable contents.
Find out how home insurance can cover water damage and how to avoid some of the pitfalls.
Motor burnout covers those big appliances in your home in the event that they let you down. This article will show you what it is, why it's important and how much it can cost you.
With a variety of insurance options to protect your mobile phone, here's what you need to know.
Find out what renter's insurance is, what it covers and how to find the right policy for your needs.
Follow these steps to find affordable home insurance that won't leave you stranded.
I looking a home insurance
Hi Faiyaz,
Thanks for getting in touch with finder. As I read, you mentioned that you are looking for a home insurance. Would you mind letting us know exactly how we can help you further?
Thank you.
Cheers,
Jeni
i simply want to buy landlord insurance with content $30,000. The insurance must strongly protect if lost rent payment by tenant. Because i have already have insurance with RACV building and content. The property will be renting out on 23/9/2017
Hey Joyce,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
You may compare your options from our list of Landlord Insurance. On the page, is a comparison table you can use to see which insurer suits you. Once you’ve chosen an insurer, you may click on “Go to site” to be directed to their page where you can start your request for a quote.
Before applying, please ensure that you review the relevant Product Disclosure Statements/Terms and Conditions when comparing your options before making a decision on whether it is right for you. You can also contact the provider if you have specific questions.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Maria
Can I have your contact number I would like to speak to a consultant
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for getting in touch. If you would like to reach Budget Direct you can call them on 1800 182 310.
All the best,
Richard
does a claim on optional extras count on your having made a claim in the last 5 years
Hi Colin,
Thanks for your question. finder.com.au is a comparison service and not an insurer. According to the Budget Direct website:
“You will not lose your No Claims Discount on renewal if:
For other claims, Budget Direct will reduce your NCD on renewal by 2 years for each claim, and your insurance cost may increase accordingly.”
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
Hi Van,
You may have received your renewal as an email that has accidentally been directed to spam, or sent to an email address you no longer use. You should contact Budget Direct directly on 1800 069 336 as soon as possible to ensure your policy is still valid and to check the renewal price. If it’s too high, you can always shop around and compare for a cheaper deal.
Hope this helps!