Budget Direct Pet Insurance

I recently switched to Budget Direct to save on premiums, and just three weeks into my policy, I ended up with a weekend emergency vet visit. Budget Direct processed and paid out their share remarkably fast with zero issues. Since then, I’ve also used the policy for routine care, and once again, the payout was quick and seamless. Total claims… Read more

have come to over $3,000 across these appointments, and the 80% coverage was reimbursed without friction or unnecessary delays. The online claims portal is incredibly user-friendly and easy to navigate.

They have done all the claim payments within a week which really relieved the financial burden. (I’ve made 3 claims, including routine care)

DO NOT INSURE WITH BUDGET DIRECT - moved to BD from RAC! Biggest mistake. Never change pet insurance. It is not governed like health insurance where after 12 months pre-existing issues can be covered. There is no such thing as consumer choice and protection. Submitted claim for my dogs Mast Cell tumor. She’d had one 3 years prior in a different… Read more

location but had been low grade and completely excised. BD stated pre-existing because if she’s had one then every one thereafter must be related! Fought through AFCA as had vet backing that new issue. Took 6 months but finally won. Now back with RAC and a problem because of gap in cover, they treat everything as pre-existing new policy- despite being insured with them for 6 years. Never insure with BD but never change pet insurers. I’ve written to ACCC and WA consumer protection. No one cares about lack of consumer protection:(

My dog has been insured with this outfit for over 6 months. Recently made a claim for his pet bill of $320. This was his first claim. Budget direct wanted to see his vet notes and the details of all the vets that he has visited as a patient. How pathetic. I have cancelled this rip off policy and will going else where. ##########################… Read more

Thank you for your email.

We have requested the medical history from Darwin Vet Hospital as that is the only Veterinary details we have for Paterson.

We only request your previous vets for the first illness claim to insure we have an accurate understanding of Paterson's previous medical history. We will not ask for this information again as we will only need the consult notes for the date you are claiming for in the future.

If you would like to continue with this claim, please advise of all vet clinics that Paterson has visited and we can keep moving forward with this claim.

Alternatively, please confirm if you would still like to cancel your policy and someone from our friendly service team will call you to initiate the cancellation of Paterson's policy.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards, Steph Pet Health Insurance Claims Team

Worst pet insurance in the market. Every single claim is denied no matter what. They always find a excuse to deny or make the process very difficult so you give up. Do not waste your money! Show details

Highly recommend Budget Direct Pet Insurance. My toy poodle has been continuously covered with them for 5 years. He was recently treated for vomiting and diarrhea and when he didn’t improve was hospitalised and diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. All the claims were processed and paid within a day! Knowing they cover 80% of eligible illness bills… Read more

with clear limits gave me immense peace of mind during a highly stressful time. Their 5-year loyalty coverage means recurring illnesses are handled properly. Fantastic support when it mattered most.

I've had nothing but a great experience with Budget pet insurance. They always accept my claims without issue, and when my dog passed away, they were very responsive, and cancelled my policy from the date of my dogs passing, whilst sharing their condolences alongside my claims. Thought I should share a positive experience!! Show reply

My dog got bad gastro infection. I paid $700 for for vet, blood test and medication. Got my refund back (80%) within 2 weeks. Show details

Made our first claim and they are delaying paying the vet invoice saying that they need to contact the vet wanting to see his notes on our dog although they have the invoice which shows the treatment received. Just another insurance company quick to take your money but slow to pay out. Will not renew with them.

WARNING: Do not go with Budget Direct Pet Insurance. My claim was denied based on a "pre-existing condition" that was never actually diagnosed by my dog's treating veterinarian. Budget Direct took symptoms and speculation within the vet notes and effectively treated them as a diagnosis so they could rely on a policy exclusion and refuse the… Read more

claim.

I lodged a formal complaint, authorised my vet to speak directly with them, and challenged the decision. Despite there being no confirmed diagnosis from the treating veterinarian, Budget Direct still upheld their original decision.

In my experience, Budget Direct will interpret information to fit an exclusion. I paid for insurance in good faith and was left out of pocket when I needed to make a claim.

I cancelled my policy immediately after the complaint outcome and would not recommend Budget Direct Pet Insurance to anyone.

unable to login to my policy and change my payment details as they don't seem to be in the 21st century. also cant cliam through my vet. terrible service. will go elswhere

I joined Budget Direct Pet insurance April 25. I did have a claim within the 2 month window which they clearly rejected. I have since visited a few times for other issues which some claims where paid. However i made a claim on the 29 April and 4 others up to the 14 July 26 for vomiting and diareaha and Xrays, blood samples to which they have… Read more

since rejected ALL stating this was from an ongoing issue 14 months ago apparently. This took 13 weeks from the original claim to the final rejection 29 July 26 I found their payments when approved took at least a month to be settled. They would have to be the worst insurance fund that i have ever dealt with so off course i have also cancelled my policy to which they have also taken an extra $40 from the balance owing stating "Please also note that when cancelling a policy outside of the 21 day Cooling Off period, a cancellation fee of up to $40 applies to any applicable refund of unused premium."

My suggestion is to avoid this company.

​I am deeply frustrated and disappointed with Budget Direct Pet Insurance. My dog had an infection that was treated and resolved before we joined. A few months later, my dog developed the infection again. Budget Direct completely rejected the claim. ​When you read their fine print, you realize a massive catch: if your pet gets a common, curable… Read more

illness, they will slap a "pre-existing" or "recurring" label on it and refuse to pay a single cent. ​It feels like this insurance is designed to only cover things that happen exactly once in a pet's lifetime. If your dog is prone to simple, recurring issues like ear or eye infections, expect to pay 100% out of pocket despite paying your monthly premiums. I will be looking for a new provider that actually understands how basic pet health works. Unreliable and absolutely not worth the money.

Garbage. My mum's dog had an eye issue that was NOT a pre-existing condition and the vet said so, and referred her to an eye specialist who also said so. Put the claim in with all the paperwork proving it was not pre-existing, and it is REFUSED due to being a "pre-existing condition" by an utterly unqualified young vet nurse. NO ARGUMENTS, just… Read more

tough luck, sorry, bye! I also put in a claim for my cat and it took them weeks, also rejected it as a pre-existing condition, which also wasn't. Changing insurers TODAY, and so should you. Screw this criminal organisation!!!!

I'd give zero stars if I could. I should have read other people's reviews prior to switching to Budget Direct from my previous provider. The RSPCA, who I was with previously, was more expensive but approved claims immediately and covered everything my dog needed, including ongoing allergy treatments. I changed to Budget Direct after an… Read more

acquaintance recommended them, and deliberately opted for routine care so that my dog's allergy shots would be included. After more than a week of sitting on my claim for this treatment, they just rejected it. Happy to take my money for a service, but will not honour their end of the deal. After reading other reviews, I can see that they're the sort of insurance company that looks for loopholes wherever possible. I cancelled coverage with them after just two months and regret even giving them that much of my money. Avoid at all costs, the cheap price isn't worth it!

Have been a customer of Budget Direct house and car insurance for over 10 years. Got pet insurance a couple of years ago for two pets and to date had never made a claim. The first claim we just did was knocked back stating that it was routine care. Apparently we had to have a different level of cover for this so I rang to arrange it. They say… Read more

you cant change your insurance until the renewal. Then the woman puts me through to some dude and they must think I'm on hold as they're having a good old moan about this guy they have on the phone wanting his insurance fixed.

I told them I could hear them and I didn't want their help anymore. Cancelled.

To be clear, never had problems with the other insurance streams, just this one.

If I could give a lower rating I would. They take excess for everything that is discovered even if you are not looking to treat that ailment found through imaging as it isn’t of concern. They use every possible loophole to avoid paying out any claims Worst pet insurance. Never had any issues with Pet insurance Australia Show details

After being their customer for a year had to follow up 3 times to received the payment for my claim and hearing they saying they are busy as an excuse didn’t receive the payment unless I had to send emails and call them think twice before signing up to them Show details

Competitive price but refuse to pay out on any claims. Keep linking to pre-existing condition even though vet stated it wasn’t linked and refuse to pay. Dont waste your money. Show details

I should’ve read the reviews first as stated by everybody. The claim time is ridiculous. Then they want a disclosure of full medical history even though my dog had nothing wrong and just vaccinations. I am now cancelling it and going to another insurance company. Show details

I stronglly not recomanded this insurance.it's really pathetic service for pet insurance.what they promise me when u claim on they not fulfilled their promise.firstly,lodge a claim process timeframe is more than 3 weeks and then they tell us whatever expense you did it just miscellanious so we not reimburse ur expense.

STAY FAR FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS PET INSURANCE PROVIDER! This is the worst pet insurer I have ever come across. I have submitted a straight forward claim on the 25/09/25 and still haven’t received the money from this so called insurer. Today is the 09/11/25!! 6,5 weeks later and still NOTHING! No communication, no response to my enquiry as to why… Read more

this is taking so long. Incompetence and disinterest in customer care! With other companies the money was in my account within a few days. They don’t even allow for the vet practice to put the claim in directly, so you have to put the claim in yourself and then WAIT WAIT WAIT! I will be changing to another pet insurer once the claim is finalised(if these incompetent people ever do get it done). Do yourself a favour and find a pet insurance that actually looks after their customers and has competent staff.

My dog got a skin infection, both bacterial and fungal after staying for a few weeks in a boarding place. My vet first thought it was an allergic reaction to plants; this had happened before. Based on this Budget Direct declined my claim that I made after visiting a vet dermatologist stating that my dog had the condition before I insured the dog. I immediately cancelled my policy because this is just a money grabbing insurance. Please avoid. Show details

made me fill out all details . told me they had $12000 limit and they covered snake bite. Once I had signed up they sent Product Description saying $1000 limit on snake bite. Useless since any treatment will be more than $4000. Fraudulent and makes me unwilling to use their car insurance Show details

Lacking communication points on so many levels, takes weeks to find out the outcome of a claim which you are out of pocket for in the mean time. They also have so many loop holes so you can't even successfully claim anything anyway it just gets rejected. They also do not support Gap Only like other insurances do. It's 'budget' for a reason. Leaves… Read more

me feeling uncomfortable thinking about if I ever needed to claim for a serious issue, I have no faith I would be successful. I will be cancelling all policies with Budget Direct.

DO NOT GET THIS PRODUCT One of the worst company's I have had to deal with. we signed up one year ago and the monthly fee comes out on time every time. So, we try and make a claim, well what a mistake that was, it is very clear they would never pay the claim, and it was only a blood test, so after a few months of trying we cut our losses and canceled our polices. I do not recommend this company Show details

Terrible, please choose another insurance. I've had a lot of issues with them only for claiming one ear infection with them. We have been waiting for so long that I really dont care about the money anymore. They are awful

The worst by far, claims take months to be processed if your lucky to get an outcome. Budget request ridiculous amounts of information for your first claim only despite there being no way issues could be pre existing. Honestly would recommend trying woolworths insurance or somewhere else who actually help and pay out claims quickly. There is a… Read more

reason vets dont accept budget insurance as claimable upfront so please make sure you dont get ripped off like we did.

The worst of all time as pet insurance goes have had the policy for over a year dog tore his acl due to an accident and such a struggle to get money out of these people. Have already changed insurance companies and will never be back… Show details

Have had a policy with these guys for a number of years. Have to say that the service has gone down as the price of premiums has gone up. We pay about $87 per month. Most recently dog had a tooth pulled unexpectedly owing to an infection. You would have thought relatively minor and easy, right? Wrong. They have now requested my dog’s entire… Read more

medical history. Appalling conduct. Likely to get out of paying out on the claim, I assume. This is exceedingly disappointing. This has made the process rather laborious, less than simple, and in addition to my dog being sick, very stressful. We will now move him to a different provider. Would not recommend. Avoid.

They didn’t accept the claim for my puppy’s ears infection which happens to any pet at any time. they excused as pre-existing condition which is not true he had one time ear infarction before and treated by Vet. That was another type of infection, did not pay anything. That was really clear an excuse to avoid paying. Show details