Renewing home insurance

If we offer to renew your policy, we will send your renewal offer at least 14 days before your renewal date. When you receive your renewal offer, you should check all the details to see if anything has changed or needs to be updated. You can make most updates or changes online using your online account before the renewal date.

Your renewal method and what you need to do is explained in your renewal offer.

Automatic renewal and payment:

• If your details in the Renewal Offer are complete and accurate, you don’t need to do a thing.
• Your insurance policy will renew automatically.
• We will deduct the renewal premium from your nominated account on, or just after the payment is due, using the payment details and frequency you last gave us

If you have opted out of Automatic Renewal and Payment:

• To stay covered you need to let us know if you’d like to take up the renewal offer before your policy renewal date expires.
• If we don't hear from you before the expiry date of your policy, we’ll assume you no longer want the policy and your cover will expire.
• You can renew your policy online using your online account.

Yes, you can choose to opt out of automatic renewal.

What this means:

• Your policy will not renew automatically at the end of its term.
• To stay covered, you will need to actively choose to renew your policy each year.

To opt out of automatic renewal, please contact us.

Your home insurance premium can increase for several reasons, even if your personal circumstances haven't changed.

Reasons can include:

• Rising repair costs: This includes the increasing cost of building materials and labour.
• More frequent severe weather: Events like floods, storms and bushfires are leading to more claims across the community.
• Changes in local factors: This can include things like shifts in crime rates for your area.
• Changes to your circumstances: Including factors like making a claim or changes to your property.
• Changes to discounts: This includes any discounts that were previously applied but no longer apply, such as introductory offers.
• Higher reinsurance costs: Reinsurance is cover we buy to protect ourselves against large-scale events, like major floods. The cost of this has gone up.
• Changes in government charges: This includes any applicable taxes, levies, or other government charges.
• General business costs: Like any business, our operating costs can also change.

These factors can affect all insurance providers. We adjust our premiums to make sure we can be there for you and all our customers when you need us most.

Your home insurance premium can increase for several reasons, even if your personal circumstances haven't changed.

Reasons can include:

• Rising repair costs: This includes the increasing cost of building materials and labour.
• More frequent severe weather: Events like floods, storms and bushfires are leading to more claims across the community.
• Changes in local factors: This can include things like shifts in crime rates for your area.
• Changes to discounts: This includes any discounts that were previously applied but no longer apply, such as introductory offers.
• Higher reinsurance costs: Reinsurance is cover we buy to protect ourselves against large-scale events, like major floods. The cost of this has gone up.
• Changes in government charges: This includes any applicable taxes, levies, or other government charges.
• General business costs: Like any business, our operating costs can also change.

These factors can affect all insurance providers. We adjust our premiums to make sure we can be there for you and all our customers when you need us most.

Yes, there is. A 21-day cooling-off period applies to all our home insurance policies when they renew.

How it works:

• The cooling-off period starts on the date your policy renews.
• If you change your mind within these 21 days, you can cancel your policy.
• As long as you haven't made a claim, you'll receive a full refund of any premium you've paid.

Yes, it is. Paying for your policy in one annual payment is the most cost-effective option.

By paying annually, you benefit from:

• A lower overall premium compared to paying in instalments.
• No instalment processing fees.

There are several factors that can influence your Budget Direct home and/or contents insurance premium, including:

• location – areas prone to severe weather or crime can impact your premium
• age and construction materials – some materials are more expensive than the others
• security features – usually, the more secure your home, the lower your premium
• who occupies your home – are you an owner occupier, a renter or do you rent the home to tenants
• claims history – the more claims you’ve made recently, the higher your premium is likely to be
• insurance excess – typically, the higher your excess, the lower your premium; and vice-versa
• optional covers – the more optional covers you have, the higher your premium is likely to be.
• sum insured – generally, the larger the sum insured (for example due to larger houses) the higher the premium. We do increase the sum insured each year to address increases in building costs. It’s important to have an accurate sum insured to avoid being underinsured. You can advise us if you do not want your Sum Insured to be automatically increased.
• government charges, taxes or levies - these are added on top of the insurance premium.

No, we don’t offer a loyalty discount. However we do have a great rewards program.

Budget Direct Rewards program - If you hold two or more policies with us, you get free access to our exclusive rewards program. This gives you access to a wide range of everyday savings and special offers. Learn more about Budget Direct Rewards.

You have several options for paying your renewal premium.

Payment methods:

• Direct debit from your bank account
• Credit card
• Debit card

Payment frequency:

• Fortnightly
• Monthly
• Annually (this is the most cost-effective option)

How to update your payment details:

• Log in to your online Policy Manager.
• Select the 'View/Change Payment Details' or 'Payment Details' button.
• Follow the prompts to update your details.

If you miss a renewal premium payment, we’ll send you a missed payment notification via SMS advising you of how to catch up on your payment. We will also contact you in writing via your preferred method of Email or Post.

To pay your overdue premium you can either:

• Tap the link in the text message and follow our instructions, or
• Log into your online account and follow the prompts.

Your policy renewal will be completed and your cover will not be impacted as long as you make the payment within 14 days from the renewal date.

Please be aware:

• if an instalment is overdue by 14 days or more, we can refuse to pay a claim.
• if an instalment is overdue by one month or more, the policy is cancelled automatically without further notice to you.

If you've opted out of automatic renewal, you need to pay for your new policy by the expiry date to stay covered.

If you don't make a payment by the expiry date, your policy will end, and you will no longer have cover.

How to get covered again?

To get insured again, you'll need to buy a new policy.

Please be aware:

• Your new policy may have a different premium and conditions.
• We cannot apply your previous renewal offer price to a new policy.

You can accept your renewal offer and make a payment through your online account.

While you can't pay your renewal premium before the due date, here’s what you need to know based on your renewal settings.

If your policy is set to auto-renew:

You don't need to do anything. We'll automatically process your payment from your chosen account on or just after the renewal date.

We recommend checking that your payment details are up to date in your online account.

If you've opted out of auto-renewal:

To stay covered, you need to accept your renewal offer and make a payment before your policy expires.

If you don't take action by the expiry date, your policy will end, and you will no longer be covered.

You can accept your offer and pay online through your online account, or by contacting us.

For your convenience most policies are set to renew automatically, reducing the risk of your home insurance cover ending unexpectedly.

We normally send your renewal offer at least 14 days before your renewal date, providing time for you to make any changes, or let us know if you don’t want to renew the policy.

If your policy has renewed and you did not want this to happen, you can cancel your policy within 21 days of the renewal date due to the cooling off period, and receive a full refund if no claim has been made.

If we offer to renew your policy, we'll send your renewal notice at least 14 days before your policy ends.

Here are a couple of things you can check:

• Check your junk or spam folder: Sometimes our emails can accidentally end up there.
• Check your contact details are correct: We send your notice to your preferred delivery address (email or post). If you haven't received it, we may have out-of-date details for you.
• You can easily check and update your contact details by logging into your online account.

If you've checked these and still can't find your notice, please contact us and we'll be happy to help

When your policy is due for renewal, it's the perfect time to make sure all your details are up to date.

When you receive your renewal offer, we recommend checking the 'Your Renewal Details' and 'Your Declarations' sections carefully.

Things you can change include:

• Your contact and payment details
• Your Sum Insured (e.g., after a renovation)
• Your optional covers (e.g., adding or removing Flood Cover)
• Your basic excess amount
• Listed or specified contents
• Home security information
• Your claims history

How to make changes:

You can update many of these details yourself by logging into your online account.

Please note: Some changes made online will apply from your renewal date, while others may need to be applied to your current policy straight away.

If you need any help, or to make changes not available online, please contact us.

You can also review your policy for ways to save. For more info, see our guide on how to reduce your premium.

When you update your policy details, your renewal premium can change.

This is because your premium is based on many factors. A change to any of these – for example, increasing your Sum Insured or changing your address – can lead to a new premium calculation.

What to expect next:

After you make a change, we'll send you an updated renewal offer or new policy documents to confirm the new details and premium.

When your policy is due for renewal, some details cannot be changed directly in Policy Manager. These are usually indicated by a padlock symbol.

This is often because these changes require a more detailed review.

For help to update these details, please contact us.

A convenient and easy way to cancel your insurance policy (even if it was renewed recently) is by logging into your online account.

Keep in mind that you have a 21-day cooling-off period from the policy renewal date. If you change your mind within that time, you can cancel your policy and get your policy-renewal payment refunded (if you didn’t make a claim).

If you change your mind outside of the 21 day cooling off period, a $40.00 early cancellation fee may be charged.

Here’s how you can cancel your policy online:

• Tap or select the policy you want to cancel
• Tap or select ‘Cancel’ to cancel your policy
• You can also contact us via live chat if you need more support.

You can cancel your policy within 21 days of it renewing (the cooling-off period). You will receive a full refund of your premium payments for the term of insurance (as long as you have not made a claim).

If you cancel your policy more than 21 days after your policy has renewed, a $40.00 early cancellation fee may be charged.

You can cancel your policy online using your online account or contact us.

If you cancel your policy more than 21 days after your policy has renewed (the cooling-off period), we will refund the unused portion of the policy but ‘early cancellation’ fee of $40 may be charged.

You can cancel your policy by logging into your online account or contact us.

If you miss a payment and your policy is cancelled as a result, we cannot reactivate the policy and honour the original price. 

We will always notify you promptly of missed payments and attempt to contact you to make up the payment before we cancel your policy. 

To get replacement cover, you'll need to complete a new quote and if cover is approved, pay for and start a new 12 month insurance policy.