If your car is driveable

When you make a claim and if your damaged car is driveable, we can book a convenient time to have the damage assessed.

Depending on where you live or work, we’ll ask you to take your car for an assessment and/or repairs to one of our:

  • direct repairers
  • assessment centres
  • partner repairers.

Car not driveable?

Direct repairers

Our nationwide network of more than 100 ‘direct repairers’ can assess and repair your car’s damage, providing you with a one-stop shop.

When you lodge your claim and depending on the circumstances:

  • we’ll book in your car for repairs and, if you’re eligible, organise a hire car for you; or
  • one of our repairers will contact you within four business hours to arrange a time to drop off your car with them; you can then collect your pre-arranged hire car (subject to eligibility).

The repairer will inform you how long the repairs are likely to take.

Assessment centres

We have five damage-assessment centres — in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

The assessments take only about 15 minutes and we can even help find a repairer for you.

Locations

Partner repairers

If there isn’t a direct repairer or assessment centre near you, we’ll ask you to take your car to one of our nearly 80 ‘partner repairers’ nationwide.

They’ll send us photos of your vehicle’s damage and a repair quote and then one of our qualified assessors will carry out an assessment.

After your car’s been assessed and we’ve authorised the repairs, we’ll be able to book in your car for repairs.

The repairer will inform you how long the repairs are likely to take. 

Car not driveable?

If your damaged car is not driveable, call us on 1300 885 996 and we’ll arrange for it to be towed to a safe location for an assessment.

Note that residents of Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong and Adelaide are required by law to call an ‘allocation centre’ or ‘centralised operator’, who will arrange the tow on their behalf.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a claim on my car insurance?

If your car’s been damaged or stolen and you need to make a claim, we’re here to help get you back on the road as quickly and smoothly as possible. 

Make a claim on your Budget Direct car insurance policy

How quickly can I expect my car to be repaired?

Each repair job is different, so it’s difficult to say for certain how long each job will take. Some can take a few days, others up to two weeks or more, depending on the severity of the damage.

Your repairer will give you an estimate of how long the job is likely to take and keep you informed of progress.

Do you guarantee repairs to my car?

Yes — repairs authorised by us are guaranteed for as long as you own the car.

My car’s a total loss, or write-off — what happens now?

If we decide your car is a write-off, we’ll negotiate with you to either:

  • pay you the amount your car is insured for (market or agreed value); or
  • replace your car with a new one of the same make, model and specification if you purchased the car new or as a demo model and it becomes a total loss:
    • Within two years or 40,000km (whichever comes first) of the original registration (Gold Comprehensive Car Insurance)

If a new replacement car is:

  • not available in Australia within 90 days, we will pay you the amount it would cost you to replace the car with a new one of the same make, model and specification, or
  • no longer available in Australia, we will pay you the amount you originally paid for the car.

If your car is financed, we're obliged to pay the finance company any money you still owe them first. We'll then pay you any residual from the insured amount.

We’ll also arrange and pay for your written-off car to be towed away from the repair shop and disposed of.

Can I choose my own repairer?

You can nominate your preferred repairer as long as your policy includes the ‘choice of repairer’ benefit.

If you nominate your preferred repairer, we’ll ask you to provide us with the repairer’s quotation for the repairs so we can determine whether:

  • the quotation is competitive, and
  • the proposed repair method is satisfactory.

If either of these criteria is not met, we may decide not to authorise the repairs and, instead offer you the option of:

  • having your car repaired by an alternative repairer chosen by us, or
  • paying you the reasonable cost to satisfactorily repair your car.

If the car is unsafe to drive, we will pay the cost to tow the car to your preferred repairer up to a maximum of 100 kilometres.

Note that, if we authorise your nominated repairer to undertake the repairs, we’ll guarantee the quality of the repairs but not the time it takes to complete them.

Get a car insurance quote online