24/7 Claims
With Budget Direct, you can conveniently make a claim online or over the phone at any time of the day or night, 365 days a year.
I want to know about:
Why Home Insurance Matters
Your Home Building Insurance policy covers the cost of repairing or replacing a damaged or destroyed house, garden shed, fence and other structures on your property based on your building sum insured amount. In case of a fire, severe weather or another insured event covered by the policy, you can protect the house you made into a home.
With Contents Insurance cover, you can be covered for loss or damage to your possessions that are inside your home – from your dining table to your favourite jeans. As part of your new-for-old replacement cover, if an insured event like a storm, fire or burst pipe results in loss or damage to your possessions, we can replace your contents with new ones.
Home Insurance Solved® with Budget Direct
Most popular
30%^OFF
on your first year’s premium for a new combined policy purchased online
Know your home and personal belongings are protected from a wide range of insured events.
Home and Contents Insurance is a combined policy of home building and contents insurance.
15%^OFF
on your first year’s premium for a new policy purchased online
Covers loss or damage to your house and outbuildings, such as garages and sheds, caused by insured events like storms and fires.
15%^OFF
on your first year’s premium for a new policy purchased online
Covers loss or damage to your belongings due to events like storms, fire, and theft.
30%^OFF
on your first year’s premium for a new combined policy purchased online
Landlord Insurance provides protection against loss or damage to your investment property and any contents you provide for your tenants' use.
15%^OFF
on your first year’s premium for a new policy purchased online
For tenants to protect their contents against loss or damage from insured events.
Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply. See Product Disclosure Statement for full details.
Are There Locations Where I Cannot Get Cover?
As we assess the risk associated with your home address, Home & Contents Insurance is not available in NT, North Qld and Northern WA.
Cover may also not be available in other parts of Australia as some addresses and locations do not meet our underwriting criteria. This helps us to manage claims costs and keep premiums low for our customers.
Compare Our Home Insurance Policies
| Included Benefits | Combined Home and Contents | Home Building | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repair/Replacement of Home | Yes | Yes | No |
| Repair/Replacement of Contents | Yes | No | Yes |
Temporary Accommodation Up to 10% of sum insured, up to 12 mths |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Legal Liability Up to $20 million |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mortgage Discharge Up to $750 |
Yes | Yes | No |
Contents Temporarily Removed Up to 20% of sum insured |
Yes | No | Yes |
| Replacement of Locks | Yes | No | Yes |
| Compare all benefits | Compare all benefits | Compare all benefits |
Compare Home Insurance Savings
Find out more about what cover we offer in your state
In comparison to their previous insurers’ premiums, customers across Australia who switched to Budget Direct Combined Home and Contents Insurance told us they saved an average of
$###†
You can use our Comparitron™ tool to compare savings as reported by other Budget Direct customers.
Price Comparison Figures
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Upgrade Your Home and Contents Insurance Cover
Need more cover? For an additional charge, you can customise your insurance policy by adding one or more of the following optional extras when you get a quote and buy a policy. Or – if you’ve already bought a policy – add optional cover by contacting us or logging into your online account and editing your policy.
If you take out optional Flood Cover, this can cover you against loss or damage caused by a flood.§
We define a ‘flood’ as the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of a lake, river, creek or other natural watercourse (whether or not any of them have been altered or modified) or a reservoir, canal, or dam.
Learn more about Flood Cover
§ The addition of Flood Cover to a policy is subject to our underwriting criteria.
Personal Effects cover insures the personal belongings you take with you away from your home (such as jewellery, sunglasses and cameras).
Learn more about Personal Effects
Accidental damage is loss or damage caused by a sudden, unintended and unexpected event that is not the result of a deliberate act – useful if you want to be covered for some damage that’s not automatically included as part of your Home Insurance. For example, spilling red wine on a carpet by mistake, or unintentionally dropping and breaking a fragile item, such as a vase.
Learn more about Accidental Damage
Motor Burnout Cover covers you for loss or damage to electric motors that are less than ten years old if the motor burns out due to an electric current or power surge. Electric motors are commonly found in home appliances like fridges, freezers, or washing machines. If you have Contents insurance, we can also pay for related food spoilage as a result of motor burnout.
Learn more about Motor Burnout
With Commercial Storage Cover, you’ll be insured for loss or damage by an insured event to your belongings while they're stored in a commercial storage facility.
If the cost to replace, repair or rebuild your home exceeds the amount of your nominated sum insured, Sum Insured Safeguard means we’ll increase it by up to 25% (e.g. from $400,000 to $500,000) to help cover the necessary repairs.
How much cover do I need?
When you buy Home Insurance, it’s up to you to determine how much it would cost to replace your home and/or contents if they were destroyed, for example, by fire. This is known as the ‘sum insured’.
These are the maximum amounts we’ll pay after an insured event, so it’s important that the sum insured you nominate is sufficient to replace your entire home and all of your contents at today’s prices.
To simplify your insurance journey, we have some calculators to help you work out how much home insurance you might need.
If your property and/or contents suffer loss or damage, or are destroyed by an insured event and you need to make a claim, we’re here to help.
Budget Direct customers can make a claim, view and edit their Home Insurance policies, and buy more insurance online.
The information on this page is a summary only. For more details about Budget Direct Home Insurance, including the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions that apply, please read the, Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
What Do I Need to Prepare for a Home Insurance quote?
To help us quickly provide you with a quote, please have the following information ready.
Details about your home
- Full address
- Type of property
- Construction materials
- Year built
- Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
- Security features
- Any special additions, such as a swimming pool or spas, detached structures, solar panels.
- Whether or not you are in a flood- or bushfire-prone area.
Information about your home’s contents
- Total estimated value of contents
- High-value items such as jewellery
- Portable contents such as laptops
Your personal details
- Full name and date of birth
- Occupation
- Previous claims history
Financial considerations
- Your preferred excess level
- Payment frequency (annual payments may be slightly cheaper overall)
Documentations
- Photos of property, including any unique inclusions
- Previous policy documentation, if you are switching insurers
Get a Quote Online and Save 30%^
Purchase a new combined Home and Contents insurance policy online and receive a 30%^ discount on your first year premium.
Alternatively, take out a standalone Home Building Insurance policy or a standalone Contents Insurance policy online and receive a 15%^ discount (for your first year’s premium only).
How to Switch to Budget Direct?
Switching to Budget Direct Home Insurance from another insurer is as easy as 1-2-3:
1
Get a Budget Direct quote
Get a Budget Direct Home Insurance quote.
Weigh up the costs and benefits when you compare Home Insurance with Budget Direct against your current home insurance providers.
2
Save on Insurance for your Home
If you choose to purchase Budget Direct Home Insurance, buy online to save 15%^ (Home or Contents) or 30%^ (combined Home and Contents).
3
Contact your former insurance company
Once you’re covered by Budget Direct, contact your previous insurer to cancel your other insurance policy.
Home Insurance FAQs
‘Home insurance’ is an umbrella term that encompasses three variations of cover:
Home and Contents Insurance covers your house and other structures on your property (such as a garage or shed) as well as your belongings for loss or damage due to an insured event like a fire, theft and storm. It is also known as Building and Contents Insurance.
Home Building Insurance covers your house and other structures on your property, including your garden shed, fences and in-ground swimming pool for loss or damage from an insured event.
Contents Insurance covers the belongings inside your home, including furniture, whitegoods, electrical appliances, clothing, and more for loss or damage from an insured event.
Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply to Budget Direct home insurance; for full details, please read the product disclosure statement.
A Certificate of Currency is a document issued by your home insurer that confirms your property has an active insurance policy in place. Lenders require this certificate as proof that the property, which serves as security for your home loan, is adequately insured against potential damage or loss.
There are several ways you can reduce your Budget Direct home and/or contents insurance cost, including:
- Selecting the right level of cover: Our range of optional covers means you'll only pay for the cover you need. For example, you don’t have to pay for flood cover if you don’t think you need it.
- Buying your policy online: If you get a quote and buy a policy online, you’ll receive 15%^ off (Home Building Insurance only or Contents Insurance only) or 30%^ off (Home and Contents Insurance) on your first year’s premium.
- Increasing your excess: When getting insurance with Budget Direct, you'll choose an excess between $100 and $5,000; by increasing your excess, you could lower your premium. Always choose an excess you’ll be comfortable to pay at claim time.
- Paying your premium annually: By paying Home and Contents Insurance policies annually instead of in instalments (i.e. fortnightly or monthly), you’ll pay a lower premium and avoid instalment processing fees.
Your lawyer or conveyancer will usually recommend home and contents insurance for your home (or investment property) when you exchange signed copies of the purchase contract with the seller.
Also, most mortgage lenders require you to take out insurance for your home before the loan becomes unconditional.
Yes — Budget Direct home and/or contents insurance covers loss or damage due to bushfires.
We’ll pay to repair or — if it burns to the ground — replace your home (and/or contents), up to the sum you’ve insured it for.
(Depending on the circumstances, your property’s bushfire cover may not take effect until 72 hours after you purchase the policy.)
Home insurance includes cover for plumbing such as water and gas service pipes, hot water systems, taps and other plumbing infrastructure at the home for loss or damage from our 10 insured events.
If we accept a claim for Escape of Liquid, we will cover you for loss or damage caused by sudden escape of liquid from a range of limited items. If you don’t know the source of the escape of liquid, we will cover reasonable costs for exploratory work to find the leak (including repairs caused by the exploratory work). We don’t cover repairs to the burst pipe, or other leak source.
However, it is important to remember that you have an obligation to maintain your home in good condition. This means you’re responsible for the cost of maintenance and repair issues that are a result of everyday use and wear and tear, such as clogged toilets, blocked drains, leaky fixtures, faulty hot-water systems, and low water pressure.
Yes – your Budget Direct-insured home and/or contents are covered for damage or loss due to violent winds, lightning, rain, hail and snow.
This cover includes the escape of rainwater from any water pipe, drain or gutter; and surface run-off of rainwater from surrounding areas that occurs within 24 hours of the storm or heavy rain.
To insure your home against floods, you need to take out optional Flood Cover.
Budget Direct can cover the cost to repair or replace your hot-water system (e.g. electric, heat pump, solar) if it’s damaged or destroyed by an insured event (e.g. a fire).
We can also cover any damage to your home and/or contents caused by water escaping from the system.
However, we won’t cover the cost to repair or replace a faulty hot-water system.
Budget Direct home insurance covers in-ground swimming pools (and spas and saunas that are permanent fixtures) at the insured address, including their accessories.
Budget Direct contents insurance covers above-ground or inflatable swimming pools (or portable spas), including their accessories.
