Find out all about Budget car insurance policies and see what customers think of their service
Defaqto rating: 5/5 stars
Independent assessor Defaqto awards Budget a high five star score for its private car policy.
Note: Not all Defaqto five-star rated products have the same covers and terms.
Feefo rating 4.6/5 stars
'You've done a lot to make customers happy with your site,' said one reviewer. 'Even though tough questions were asked, it's for the good of everyone to be upfront when declaring details,' they added.
Other Feefo reviewers praised the lack of jargon when applying for car insurance and the clear, patient customer service advice experienced.
Budget Insurance was awarded a Feefo rating
of 4.6 out of five based on 1,200 verified reviews.
Budget car insurance is backed by car and motorbike insurer BISL Limited, part of the bigger BGL Group. Budget describes itself as an independent intermediary 'dealing with selected insurers'.
Budget has a short-term car insurance offshoot tagged Jaunt. Jaunt offers online car insurance from one hour to 30 days.
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Budget’s comprehensive cover includes protection from uninsured drivers and any excess will be refunded. There’s also up to £300 of cover towards replacing a child seat. Be careful when refuelling – there’s no loss or damage cover from putting in the wrong fuel, diesel or petrol.
Plenty of flexibility is offered and it’s easily possible to add extra protection – personal accident cover or lost keys, for example – to any policy. But there’s no theft cover if car keys are left inside while your car’s unattended. Nor is there wear-and-tear related key cover.
Although Budget Insurance emphasizes the simplicity of their product range it is also well-regarded (see 'How good is Budget Insurance car insurance?'). Budget claims it has attracted nearly 3m customers in total. However there’s no ‘black box’ telematics product currently (July 2020), dragging innovation down somewhat.
Between 1 July - 30 September 2020 anyone buying a new insurance policy via the Budget website or over the phone receives a £30 Amazon voucher.
Budget car insurance offer three choices of cover:
There’s no telematics insurance cover currently though some established ‘big name’ insurance companies – Aviva is one – do offer black box insurance.
Budget doesn’t offer a multicar insurance policy Taking out a multi-car insurance policy can help reduce your insurance costs:
Budget offers short-term insurance under the brand Jaunt. Short-term insurance is available from one hour to 30 days. You will be asked for the vehicle registration and your driving licence then decide how long you want the cover to last. The amount of excess varies – but it will be confirmed before you buy your insurance.
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Fully comprehensive cover includes:
Budget says if you (or a partner) are accidentally killed or permanently injured getting in, travelling in or getting out of your car or any other private vehicle that you don’t own it will pay £5,000 for each death.
There is £5,000 for the total and irrecoverable loss of sight in one or both eyes and £5,000 for the permanent loss of use of one or more limbs above the wrist or ankle.
You’re insured for the front windscreen, side, rear window and standard sunroof. Any repair to your car’s bodywork that has been damaged by broken glass from the windscreen or windows is also covered. A claim will not affect your no-claims discount.
If you use your own supplier Budget says cover is limited to £150 less any excess. Be advised there’s no cover for damaged or broken glass in panoramic glass roofs.
You’ve covered for up to £150 for personal belongings not permanently fitted to the car. Also cover for items damaged following an accident, fire, theft or attempted theft involving the car.
Belongings though aren’t covered if left in an open or convertible car, unless locked in the boot or glove box. Mobile phones aren’t covered at all – so be careful with all your devices including tablets and lap-tops.
Budget claims child seat cover up to £300 is included – even if there’s no apparent damage evident.
Any loss or damage from incorrectly fuelling or maintaining the car is not covered at all.
Budget has a full range including personal accident cover, ‘keycare’ cover, guaranteed replacement car plus breakdown cover too – up to five levels of protection.
Breakdown cover is available as a cost option with several levels of RAC cover offered. But any breakdown that would have been prevented by regular servicing will not be supported, you’re advised.
You can drive in Europe for up to 60 days in any period of insurance with full policy-equivalent cover.
If you’re in an accident that’s not your fault, Budget says its Motor Legal Protection provides legal expenses to help you and your passengers claim compensation for uninsured losses including personal injury.
Budget says it provides legal expenses to defend you if you are facing suspension or disqualification of your driving licence. However motoring prosecution defence doesn’t cover any fines or penalties, or charges relating to drink or drugs. There must be a reasonable chance of case success, it advises.
Budget’s contact centre is open Monday to Saturday, 8am-6pm, and Sunday, 10am-4pm, with a 24/7 claims line. There’s also a webchat service available Monday to Saturday, 10am-4pm.
There’s an online My Account service available 24/7 where you can make payments, amend your policies and view and print all your insurance documents.
During the Covid-19 pandemic Budget says it made additional breakdown assistance available to key workers at no extra cost. It also pledged to provide a guaranteed replacement vehicle for eligible key workers in the event of an accident.
The Financial Ombudsman Service received fewer than 10 complaints about Budget motor insurance in the first half of 2020 (that could be just a single complaint). But Budget is also part of BISL, which received 76 complaints. To put that in context, 67 firms had 10 or more complaints each and those totalled 4,550 complaints. Nearly 200 firms had fewer than 10 each, sharing just 479 complaints between them.
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