Choose your cover
Comprehensive Car Insurance
Covers loss or damage to your vehicle due to an accident, theft, severe weather, malicious damage, and fire; and your liability for accidental damage your car causes to other people’s property.
Third Party Property Only Insurance
Covers your liability for accidental damage your car causes to other people’s property, including their vehicles.
Third Party Property, Fire and Theft Insurance
Provides the same cover as Third Party Property Only, with extra protection against loss or damage to your vehicle due to fire and theft.
Read more about Third Party Property, Fire and Theft Insurance
Compare cover
The best car insurance isn't the same for everyone. Compare our cover and choose a policy that meets your needs.
Upgrade your cover
For an additional premium, you can customise your comprehensive car insurance by adding one or more of these optional benefits to your policy:
Terms and conditions apply. Please read the product disclosure statement for full details.
How do I add an optional benefit to my policy?
You can add one or more of these benefits when you get a quote and buy a policy or – if you’ve already bought one – by contacting us or logging into your online account and editing your policy.
Roadside Assistance
For just $79.95 a year – less than $1.60 a week – you can take advantage of our 24/7 nationwide Roadside Assistance service.
It can be purchased with or without a Budget Direct car insurance policy.
With our Australian network of more than 2,500 contractors, you’re never too far from help.
Get a quote online and save 15%^
Get a car insurance quote online – it takes just two minutes. If you buy online, you’ll receive a 15% discount on your comprehensive or third party insurance premium.
Hail warnings
If you’re a Budget Direct customer, we’ll warn you via SMS of hail storms approaching the address where your car is normally kept.
Hail Hero is exclusive to customers throughout Australia.
Compare car insurance savings
In comparison to their previous insurers’ premiums, customers across Australia who switched to Budget Direct car insurance told us they saved an average of
$###†
Use our Comparitron™ tool to compare car insurance savings reported by our customers throughout Australia.
Award-winning Australian car insurance
After comparing the cost and features of 47 comprehensive policies offered by 37 insurers, Canstar awarded us one of only two national awards for Outstanding Value Car Insurance in 2019 — a record 13th year in a row we've won the award.
We also won Money magazine's Best of the Best 2020 title for Car Insurance; and a Mozo Experts Choice 2019 award for Exceptional Value Car Insurance.
Find out more
The information on this page is a summary only. For more details about Budget Direct car insurance, including the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions that apply, please read the product disclosure statement (PDS)
How to make a claim
If you need to make a claim, we’re here to help you get back on the road as quickly and smoothly as possible. Make a claim on your car insurance policy.
Frequently asked questions
What are the different types of car insurance?
Budget Direct offers three types of car insurance:
- Comprehensive covers the loss of, or damage to, your vehicle due to an accident (regardless of who’s at fault), vandalism, fire, weather, and theft. It also covers damage caused by your vehicle to other people’s property (e.g. their car and home).
- Third Party Property covers damage caused by your vehicle to other people’s property (e.g. their car and home). It does not cover damage to your vehicle (unless it’s damaged in a no-fault accident with an uninsured driver, in which case you have limited cover).
- Third Party, Fire and Theft provides the same protection as Third Party Property plus cover for loss or damage to your vehicle if it’s stolen or catches fire.
The type of cover you have is shown on your car insurance certificate.
How can I get cheaper car insurance?
By not insuring unsafe drivers, we can keep our car insurance premiums low for safer drivers like you.
Depending on the type of car insurance you choose, there are a number of ways you can reduce your premium even further, namely:
- Select the right level of cover. Do you need comprehensive cover for your car, or would third party property insurance be enough?
- Set a driver-age restriction. You can get a lower premium by restricting your policy to drivers over a certain age (21+, 25+, 30+, 40+, 50+).
- Increase your excess. If you’re comprehensively insured and you increase your Basic Excess, we’ll reduce your premium.
- Maintain a good driving record. For each claim-free year, you’ll receive a no claim discount (NCD) on your premium; the NCD is capped at 5+ years, at which point we’ll give you a Rating 1.
How much can I insure my car for?
With Budget Direct, you can insure your car for its market value or, in some cases, for an agreed value.
Market value is the reasonable cost to replace your vehicle with one of the same make, model, age, mileage and overall condition.
To get an idea of what your car may be worth, search for it in the Red Book or on car sales websites.
Please note that the prices provided by these sites are only meant to be a guide. Your car's market value will be determined by us at the time of the loss or damage.
Agreed value is the amount we agree to insure your car for. We may offer you an agreed value, provided:
- your car is less than 10 years old; and
- your vehicle has not been converted to LPG; and
- the agreed value is within an acceptable range of the market value.
The value for which your car is covered is shown on your insurance certificate and in your online account.
Which drivers must be listed on my policy?
You must list any household members (including learner, provisional and occasional drivers) who may drive the car. Unlisted household members won’t be covered.
Any non-household members who drive the car are automatically covered. If you list them on your policy, you’ll avoid having to pay the unlisted driver excess (other excesses may apply).
What is a car insurance excess?
A car insurance excess is the fixed amount you pay towards a claim.
Depending on the circumstances of the incident that led to your claim, you may have to pay more than one excess: your Basic Excess plus any additional excesses that apply.
For example, if someone under the age of 21 causes an accident while driving your car, you’ll have to pay your Basic Excess (let’s assume it’s $600) plus an additional excess of $600 due to the driver’s age.
It means that, if the damage bill was $5,000, say, you would pay $1,200 and we would pay $3,800.
Your Basic Excess and the additional excesses are shown on your insurance certificate.
If you make a claim, we’ll tell you which excesses apply and when and how to pay them.
You won’t have to pay an excess if the accident is deemed a no-fault accident.
Car Insurance Knowledge Base
Your questions about insurance all
answered in one place.
Useful links
†{comparitron-disclaimer}
^Online discount terms and conditions apply.
*Based on a survey of Budget Direct Car Insurance customers conducted between 10 February 2015 and 29 February 2020. Visit www.budgetdirectreviews.com.au for more details.
