Before you claim

When making a claim on your Budget Direct home and/or contents policy, please follow these steps:

• Make sure you and your property are safe.
• Take all reasonable steps to prevent or minimise further loss, damage or liability.
• Report any theft (or attempted theft), malicious damage or vehicle impact to the police as soon as possible.
• Lodge a claim, providing us with the full details of the incident and any relevant supporting documents.

If anyone in your house has been seriously injured, dial 000.

If an emergency threatens your family’s health and safety, contact your state emergency service on 132 500.

If your home has an emergency that needs urgent attention, we can arrange a 'make safe'. This ensures:

• Any risk to occupants or further property damage is removed
• The site is secure

In most cases, a 'make safe' is a temporary measure and not a final repair.

You can lodge a claim and request a 'make safe' by contacting us on 1800 069 336.

If an 'event' is threatening the safety of your household members or is continuing to cause damage, we ask (where it is safe to do so) that you take reasonable action to prevent further damage and secure your home where possible.

If you appoint a tradesperson for an emergency repair then you can submit your expenses for review as part of your claim. Make sure that you document the repair and save invoices, receipts, and photographs taken at the time of the incident.

1. Document the Damage
   You can start cleaning up, but first take pictures or videos of damage to the property and possessions, and keep samples of damaged materials and fabrics as evidence for your claim (for carpet, around a square meter should be fine, if it is safe to keep).
2. Remove Water and Mud-Damaged Contents
   You are able to remove water or mud-damaged materials from your property that might pose a health risk, such as saturated carpets and soft furnishings (if the item is damaged and may be repairable or you are retaining destroyed items, store them somewhere where they do not pose a health risk).
3. Keep a Record of Items
   You should make a list of all the damaged items and provide as much information as you can. This should include a description of the item, brand, model, and serial number.

Contact us as soon as possible, either online or on the phone.

If a water pipe bursts in your home, your first priority is to stop the flow of water. You should:

• Turn off the water at the mains
• Contact an emergency plumber to stop the leak

Once the immediate risk is managed, please call us on 1800 069 336 or contact us online to lodge your claim.

If your home has been burgled, please follow these steps:

• Report the incident to the police before lodging a claim
• Obtain a reference number from the police, as you'll need to provide this to us
• Contact us on 1800 069 336 or online to lodge your claim

 If a tree has fallen on your house, please follow these steps:

• If anyone in your house has been seriously injured, dial 000
• If the fallen tree threatens your family’s health and safety, contact your state emergency service on 132 500
• Then, call us on 1800 069 336 or contact us online to lodge your claim

Yes, we cover your home for loss or damage caused by:

• A storm
• The sudden escape of liquid
• Liquid that has escaped slowly over time, provided you couldn't reasonably have been aware of it

We also offer optional Flood cover. You can add this cover when you first purchase your policy, partway through, or at renewal, subject to our underwriting rules.

Yes, if you have added optional Flood Cover to your home insurance policy. If you have Flood Cover and we accept your claim, we will pay to repair or replace damage to your flooded home and/or contents, up to your sum insured.

However, we will not cover any loss or damage caused by flood within 72 hours of when you first purchase optional flood cover. This is known as the uninsured period.

This uninsured period does not apply if your policy:

• Commenced immediately after another policy covering the same risks expired, without a break in cover
• Commenced on the same day you bought your home or moved to a new address

You are covered for the cost of removing any part of a tree that has fallen and caused damage to your home. However, the cost of removing or disposing of tree stumps, 'at risk' trees, or branches of trees that have not damaged your home will not be covered.

If a tree or part of a tree from your property is impacting a neighbour’s home, then it would be up to your neighbour to lodge a claim with their insurer or arrange removal of that part of the tree themselves.

We do not cover loss, damage, or any legal liability caused by:

• The roots of trees or plants of any kind
• The lopping or felling of trees when performed or authorised by you, your family, or a household member, unless completed by a professional tree removal business.

When you insure your home building and/or contents as a landlord, then your investment property is covered for loss or damage from our insured events. 

When you have home building insurance as a landlord the policy also includes the landlord benefits of:

• Loss of Rent (due to an insured event) - We provide cover for lost rental income if your tenanted home is damaged by an insured event. We will pay up to 10% of your home sum insured, for up to 12 months from the date the damage occurred.
• Landlord’s Contents - We provide cover for damage to some contents if your tenanted home is damaged by an insured event. This includes up to 5% of the home sum insured for floor coverings, internal window coverings, and light fittings.
• For an additional premium you may be eligible to customise your landlord insurance when you add optional landlord cover to your policy:
• Tenant theft and Malicious Damage - For loss or damage as a result of a fire maliciously lit by your tenant and their visitors, we will pay up to the sums insured stated on your Insurance Certificate. For all other loss or damage, when we insure your home, we will pay up to $150,000 and when we insure your contents, we will pay up to $20,000
• Tenant Default - We will cover for up to 15 weeks net rental income until your building is re-tenanted or rental payments start again.

Budget Direct Contents Insurance covers mobile phones, laptops, and other gadgets for loss or damage inside your home by an insured event. This includes events like theft and storms but excludes accidental damage (e.g. due to you dropping your phone on the floor at home).

If you insure your mobile phone, laptop or tablets under optional specified personal effects, they will be covered for accidental loss or damage during the period of insurance:

• anywhere in Australia and New Zealand
• anywhere else in the world for up to 90 days of your departure from Australia.

Business activity is defined as any registered business or any activity conducted at the insured address that derives an income. This does not include working remotely from a home office.

You need to let us know if you are running a business from your home and what sort of business it is.

Tools or equipment you use for any trade or profession that you perform, or that are used to make an income, are considered tools of the trade and are subject to a policy limit of $2000 in total. You are not covered for stock used in connection with any business, trade, or profession.

Your policy has exclusions, meaning certain events or types of damage are not covered. These are divided into two categories:

• Specific Exclusions: These apply to individual Insured Events and Optional Covers. You will find them listed under each relevant section in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
• General Exclusions: These apply to all parts of your policy.

For full details on what is not covered, please refer to your Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

There are two ways to increase the limit of contents items on your policy, these include:

• Specified Contents - Items that you wish to insure for an amount higher than the stated policy limit within the home. These are;
  • Carpets and rugs
  • Multimedia
  • Jewellery and watches
  • Collections and collectables
  • Artwork
• Specified Personal Effects - Personal items you might take with you away from home that you want extra cover for. You can choose to insure items cover in the following categories:
  • Bicycles,
  • Clothing,
  • Medical aids
  • Musical instruments
  • Jewellery and watches,
  • Photographic equipment
  • Sporting equipment
  • Mobile phones
  • Laptops/tablets
  • e-Scooters

The decision to lodge a claim is completely up to you. If need be, a claim can be lodged and then withdrawn at a later date.

By lodging a claim we can proceed with an assessment and determine any costs involved with your claim. We will always notify you if the costs associated with the claim fall below your excess and will arrange a refund of your excess where applicable.

We consider a range of factors (including if you make a claim) before determining your annual insurance premium.

If you’re looking to save on your premium you can elect to increase your excess. However, this also means that you will need to pay a higher excess in the event of a claim. Always choose an excess you’ll be comfortable to pay at claim time.