Travel Insurance Reviews

before taking out my claim I searched for a insurance that covered pandemics, I asked the sales rep if i was covered and told them i was concerned about going as the pandemic was getting worse- but they reassured me as my destination was not on the do not travel list that I would be covered- in the middle of my trip the government issued an urgent return home notice as they were about to close the border- being a student with tight funds I was not able to buy new flights- I was unable to contact my airline so wrote to budget direct again asking what to do- whether rescheduling would be covered and the online chat helper said yes and i should log a claim- so i did- and then after months of waiting the claim was denied- so requested to receive a copy of the chat logs (I also asked for a copy of the chats in the chats and was told i would be sent one) and they waited a few months and just denied my claim again? I wanted the chat logs? i was very clear in the emails and phone calls? anyway- very misleading manipulative company do not give them money

DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY! THEY MAKE EXCUSES TO NOT PAY GENUINE CLAIMS! THEY DONT RESPONSE TO CLAIMS UNTIL MONTHS LATER! You will know if an Insurer is good during claims time and it is no point buying any insurance at low cost when they dont actually pay you when you need to make a claim. This is an extremely hard lesson I learnt googling for "best insurance companies in Australia or cheapest", CHEAP IS BAD and this is BUDGET DIRECT, their name itself is a reflection. They spent a lot of advertising money and mostly appears at the top of search engines and many Comparison sites like Canstar, Find, Comparethemarket, etc, to ENTICE ignorant consumer like me to buy their policies but when it comes to claims time, they do not response at all until months later and make all sorts of excuses to NOT PAY GENUINE CLAIMS! So please DO NOT GET SCAMMED, read each and every fine print in their policy! They used this to argue themselves out of paying claims. I am taking my case to the AFCA, also read the reviews of other policy holders before you buy! I am a frequent business traveller, been buying travel insurance since 30yrs ago with different companies and last year, it was UNFORTUNATE I came across Budget Direct whilst googling. I bought a comprehensive multi-trip travel insurance in 2019 for my trip to Egypt and Jordan during Xmas holidays. Halfway through my trip, my Mum passed away overseas, and I had to break my trip and fly back for Mum's funeral. Hence, I had to rebook my Business Class Air Tickets and cancel half my trip, and rebook all hotels overseas attending mums funeral for a week. To rub salt into the wound, when I tried to make a claim, I received no response for almost 2 months, sent them multiple emails, they of course made excuses using COVID-19, asked for mum's death cert and all documents to proof my flights, travels, hotels cost etc. They then come back to inform that MY CLAIMS HAVE BEEN REJECTED! Below is their response:-

"The claimant has lodged the above claim under Section A-Cancellation and Amendment fees. As the claimant has already departed Australia she will not be covered under this section. We further considered this claim under Section C1- Cutting Your Trip Short & Section C2-Additional expenses. However, as the incident did not occur in Australia the claim does not fall within the scope of the policy and is therefor denied at this time."

I wondered why the Hell would anyone purchase travel insurance for overseas travel if not for unfortunate events like what happened to me! My mum passed away when I was travelling, and this is NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON for Budget Direct to pay my claims! So BEWARE all of you, think 100x before you think of engaging this company's services as CHEAP/BUDGET doesnt mean quality and this is often TRUE each and everytime. I am really keen to hear what the OMBUDSMAN AFRA had to say about this when I lodge a FORMAL COMPLAINT about Budget Direct tricking ignorant, unbeknownst consumers hundreds of million of dollars purchasing their policies hoping NO ONE MAKES A CLAIM and if one does, Budget Direct goes "see, read our 10,000 lines of fine prints in our terms of policies document when you purchase, you are not covered!!!" So unless you are a lawyer, and you have read through each and every word in the terms of their policy document, you are in for the SHOCK OF YOUR LIFE, when most of us would have thought we are covered by travel insurance if a family member passed away during your travels!!!

Flights to UK cancelled resulting from the pandemic, but we thought we were one of the lucky ones that wouldn't suffer loss because our travel insurance stated we were covered for a pandmic and we took it out in Dec 2019 - pre-COVID.

Unfortunately, because we have been offered a voucher by the travel agent, we are advised we are ineligible for a refund. This, despite that fact said travel voucher must be booked by end 2020, rendering it useless, in light of international travel restrictions

Budget Direct are hiding behind 'travel credits' as grounds for refund avoidance. The travel credits offered will almost certainly be useless within the time frame we have to use them.

We have been traveling for two decades, have taken out travel insurance dozens of times, and made a claim on two previous occasions, both of which was satisfactorily rseolved. This was our first time insuring with Budget Direct. Take heed BD. When this is all said and done, people will remember and you will get your just desserts.

These guys do everything they can to not pay you when you need them the most.
I’ve been through the hardest time of my life recently having to deal with getting back to Australia during covid 19 and after another life catastrophe.

I will never use this company for anything ever again.

Has cheaper premiums but the reality hits when a claim is made.
Four months to assess a claim and they only pay a portion of the claim

I wish I had read these reviews before getting their travel policy. Lost $1200 on a policy that will not cover anything. As others have stated claiming is very difficult and then they find excuses to decline the claim. In our case they declined medical expenses that are clearly covered by the policy. The excuse was that their terms require documents that no clinic will provide for a regular doctor's visit. Never experience anything like this with any other travel insurance. Medical expenses have been paid out by other insurances without any problem. I provided them all the documents from the clinic, prescription and all the receipts. But that's not enough according to their PDS. To me seems illegal and I'm filing a case with AFCA and we will see if it is (illegal) or just a legalised scam.

Whatever you do, do not take any policy with Budget Direct. I've also cancelled my car insurance with them.

Took a travel insurance for my holiday back in January and my claim was rejected because "Covid 19 was a known issue back then."

It is even frustrating coz it took them 30+ days to get back to me (after me emailing them pushing them for decision)

Their product statement clearly said that we will be covered if a travel ban was imposed due to epidemic but they are backtracking their word.

Will not recommend.
Please find another.

Terrible and Slow Customer Service
Poor Communication
Conducting business on Bad Faith
Better find another

Book their travel insurance for a trip back in January and was denied of a claim saying "Covid 19 was a known issue at that time"
The communication sucks, took them 30+days to get back to me after sending them email again pushing them for a decision.
Your product disclosure Part A-Section 8 stated that:
"We will pay a benefit under this Section if the cancellation of your trip is necessary and unavoidable as a result of:
You being unable to travel because of travel restrictions imposed on you after an epidemic, terrorist attack or natural disaster."
I feel like they are trying to weasel their way out of this.

I will never use Budget Direct again. Failed to reimburse me for my claim appropriately. I missed my connecting flight due to a 4 hour immigration queue between airport terminals. I was not reimbursed for this flight or any other expenses related to travel and accommodation as a result.

After our cruise was canceled due to Covid-19 I began contacting everyone I had booked with. We are receiving a full refund from the cruise line, accommodation, tour bookings, airport car parking etc. Even receiving a refund where it was stated bookings were subject to a no refund policy. Everyone has been so helpful and understanding... except Budget Direct. We have paid for a comprehensive travel insurance policy we no longer need because... we are not traveling. So you would think it would be possible to cancel in light of the current situation. But no, they won’t cancel or refund because it is outside their cooling off period. No consideration at all for their customer’s nor any compassion shown. Needless to say we will never use any of their insurance products again.

We purchased their Comprehensive Insurance within 2 weeks of booking our holiday and 3 months out from our vacation... with the COVID-19 travel bans coming in we claimed (as travel ban is covered in their PDS) and they denied our claim!!! Dumbest excuses either - we're taking them to the Ombudsman.

We decided to cancel 2 trips out of the country, due to our age and the coronavirus. One trip was insured by Australian Seniors. No trouble. Got a full refund. The other trip was insured with Budget Direct. Not a cent was offered in return ie no refund. Not again, Budget. You talked us into taking on a top of the range policy, so now we lose it. Not a good choice by Choice.