Budget Home Insurance Review and Quotes
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Would you like to protect your home against any damage or an unfortunate event such as a house fire or theft?
Are you wondering if Budget is the best home insurance company to protect your house?
You’ve come to the right place.
This ultimate and up-to-date review on Budget home insurance gathers all you need to know: consumers reviews, cover details, prices, claim process, contact numbers and much more. Let’s dive right into it.
Is Budget the best insurance company for you?
Getting the best home insurance deal is not just about the price. Indeed, focusing on just getting the cheapest deal might be a bad calculation when it comes to getting a good pay-out if your home is damaged as a result of an unfortunate event such as theft, fire or natural disaster.
At Safe, we’ve studied in detail Budget's home policy terms and conditions and given our own ratings based on different criteria for combined building and contents insurance policy.
3,3 Safe overall rating for Budget
| Safe rating | Our opinion | |
|---|---|---|
| Customer service & satisfaction and claims |
Great Trustpilot customers reviews | |
| Cover provided for your home |
Average cover limits and excess | |
| Value for money |
Affordable rates starting at £120 | |
| Financial strength |
Trading name for BISL limited, authorized and regulated by FCA | |
| Technology |
Customer portal My Account to manage policy |
Expert and customer satisfaction reviews for Budget home insurance
| Review organisation | Budget home insurance reviews |
|---|---|
Defaqto expert |  |
| Trustpilot | 4,5/5 based on 7,397 customers reviews |
| Which? Score | 44% for building insurance |
Our general opinion on Budget home insurance
Budget home insurance is well rated on Trustpilot which means that the claim process must be efficiently handled.
However, the standard home insurance is only rated 3 stars by Defaqto.
The building insurance only offers £15K alternative accommodation and unoccupancy period cover of 45 days.
Contents cover is also quite poor compared to others insurances on the market.
What does Budget home insurance cover?
What is more important than protecting your home – the roof under which you sleep with your loved ones?
Applying for home insurance at Budget will allow you to protect the structure of your home (buildings insurance), what is inside (contents insurance) or both (combined buildings and contents insurance).
Without home insurance, your home is exposed to any kind of risk, from a minor water leak to a fire, and you are liable for any repairs – whatever the cost this represents.
Home insurance at Budget covers you for any damage made as a result of an unfortunate event such as theft, fire and natural disaster causing leaks, flooding, etc.
Budget buildings and contents insurance
Budget provides three main types of household insurance:
- Buildings insurance
- Contents and personal possessions insurance
- Combined policy
Buildings insurance covers the structural aspects of your home. It will cover any damage made to your walls, floors, ceiling, windows, outbuildings, garages, etc. You can also extend your buildings insurance to permanent fixtures such as bathrooms, etc. Buildings insurance is for homeowners.
Good to know
If you buy your property and get a mortgage for this, you will be asked to provide valid buildings insurance. Buildings insurance is not mandatory, though. However, you must know that an average claim for repairing a burst pipe for example is £25 000.
Contents insurance will cover any damage made to your belongings inside your home or in your garden (TV and other appliances, furniture, etc). In other words, it will cover anything which is not structural.
Good to know
House contents insurance is highly recommended (especially in case you get burgled or if you are renting a furnished flat) but is not mandatory.
In the event of a fire, for instance, buildings insurance will give you compensation for your home structure, your walls, roofing or other structural elements damaged during the fire, and contents insurance will cover any damage made to your household appliances, furniture, jewellery and so on.
You will find below policy details for building and contents insurance:
| Budget building insurance | Limits |
|---|---|
| Maximum sum insured | £1 000 000 |
| Owner liability | £2 000 000 |
| Alternative emergency accomodation | £15 000 |
| Period of home's unoccupancy cover | 45 days |
| Repairs guarantee period | Varies |
| Trace and access | £5 000 |
| Burst pipe | As standard |
| Blockage of sewer pipe | Not covered |
| Gradual build-up of groundwater | Not covered |
| Subsidence | As standard |
| Underground services | Available as extra |
| Keys cover | £500 - £1000 (optional extra) |
| Flood and storm damage (except for fences) | As standard |
Good to know
Limits mentioned above are part of the total sum you insured with your insurer when applying for home insurance (and not in addition to).
Let’s have a look now at Esure contents insurance limits:
| Contents insurance | Limits |
|---|---|
| Maximum sum insured | £99 000 |
| Owner liability | £2 000 000 |
| Alternative emergency accomodation | £7 000 |
| Period of home's unoccupancy cover | 45 days |
| Damage made by pets | Not covered |
| Contents kept in garden | £1 000 |
| Contents kept in outbuildings (garage included) | £99 000 |
| Thefts from outbuildings | £2 000 |
| Single item limit for valuables | £1 500 |
| Items temporarily removed from home | £7000 (under personal possessions cover - optional extra) |
| Money in and outside the home | Inside: £100 Outside: £350 (optional extra) |
| Credit cards in and outside the home | Inside: £500 Outside: £500 (under personal possessions cover - optional extra) |
| Business equipment kept at home | £3 000 |
| Student equipment | Not covered |
| Keys cover | £500 - £1000 (optional extra) |
Budget home insurance additional cover
On top of your Budget buildings and contents insurance, you can find additional cover such as:
| Home insurance additional cover | |
|---|---|
| Accidental damage cover | Optional extra |
| Home emergency | Not available |
| Boiler cover | Not available |
| Legal protection |
|
| Personal possessions |
|
| Mobile cover |
|
| Bicycle cover |
|
Budget home insurance excess
The deductible you'll have to pay in case of claims are as described below:
| For both building and contents insurance | |
|---|---|
| Excess for standard claims | £100 - £550 |
| Excess for escape water claims | £350 |
| Excess for subsidence claims | £1 000 |
| Excess for personal possessions | £100 - £550 |
| Excess for keys | £100 - £550 |
Budget home insurance fees and NCD
To manage your policy, renew, cancel or modify it, Budget fees are as follows:
| Fees applied to manage your Budgethouse policy | |
|---|---|
| Interests on payment installments | 29,90% |
| To renew my policy | £0 |
| To adjust my policy | £20 |
| To duplicate documents | £0 |
| To cancel my policy during cooling-off period | £35 |
| To cancel my policy outside cooling-off period | £35 |
| For payment default | £20 |
| To switch from one insurer to Budget | Not covered |
How much does Budget home insurance cost?
You will below indicative quotes for building and contents insurance at Budget:
| Building insurance | Contents insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Excess | £100 - £550 | £100 - £550 |
| Home cover | Building: £250 000 Contents: £20 000 Personal items: £4 000 | Building: £500 000 Contents: £50 000 Personal items: £8 000 |
| Premium | £175,53 | £344,42 |
It is very difficult to give a precise range of how much exactly will your home insurance cost at Budget as it will mainly depend on:
- The insurance you apply for (building, contents, combined insurance, extras)
- Your address
- Your claim record
- The insured value of your home and of your personal belongings, etc.
Budget will establish a risk rate, taking into account all these elements, and offer you a price based on it.
The average cost of combined buildings and contents insurance in 2018 was £163, with contents insurance usually counting for a third of the premium (around £60) and building insurance for the rest (around £110). However, premium will be higher if you buy stand-alone building or contents insurance.
Do you want to compare the cheapest home insurance quotes? It couldn’t be easier. Just do a quick home insurance comparison using our comparison tool below. It takes only 15 seconds and is completely neutral and 100% anonymous.
Budget home insurance discounts available
No discount available.
How do I a claim on Budget home insurance?
To claim at Budget you will need to call the 24/7 available claims helpline at the number mentioned below. You can also report your claim through My Account Budget customer portal online.
You will be asked to provide your insurance policy number as well as details on claim circumstances such as date and time, pictures or other person involved.
| How to claim on Budget home insurance? | |
|---|---|
| Claim by phone | 0344 4122 128 |
Good to know
If you claim is related to a criminal incident (theft, fire etc), you must call the police upfront.
How can I cancel Budget house insurance?
To cancel your Budget house insurance, here is what you need to know:
| Cancelling your home insurance at Budget | |
|---|---|
| Cancellation notice if Budget cancel your policy | 7 days |
| Cancellation fees | Fees during cooling-off period: £35 Fees outside cooling-off period: £35 |
| Cancel by phone | 0344 4122 123 |
How to contact Budget home insurance?
| Services | Phone numbers | Opening hours |
|---|---|---|
| Claims | 0344 4122 128 | 24/7 |
Budget home insurance contact details
| Budget contact details | |
|---|---|
| Budget address | Budget Insurances |
| Customer service email | Not available |
| Chatbot available | Not available |
How do I log in to Budget customer portal?
You can log in to your customer portal at Budget called My Account (https://www.budgetinsurance.com/my-account/login-and-registration/)
This allows you to manage your policy online:
- see your documents
- claim
- get or retrieve quote
- upload documents.
How do I get Budget home insurance quotes?
To get a quote online at Budget, it couldn’t be simpler.
You can go on our home insurance comparison tool here and compare the main home insurance deals on the market. If Budget is the company that best suits your needs, then you just click on the ‘Get quote’ button and follow the whole process explained online.
To get Budget home insurance quotes, you will need to provide:
- Your personal information: ID, age, phone number and job
- Your address and postcode
- Your homeowner record (claims included)
- Your home description (type of property, the date it was built, how many square metres inside and outside)
- Your property related status: do you own it, rent it, have a mortgage on it, etc.
- Extras you’d like to get on your home insurance, contents sum insured and the excess you’d like to pay.
The types of questions you will be asked are typically:
- Are you a first-time buyer?
- Has the property ever suffered from subsidence, cracking, subsidence or undergone any underpinning (or showed any signs)?
- Has the property ever been damaged by flood?
- Has anyone living permanently at the property made any home claim(s) for loss or damage in the past X years (usually 3) or had any claim(s) made against them? etc.
5 tips to reduce your Budget house insurance quote
- Always shop around on home insurance comparison sites. If you do not auto renew and instead apply for new home insurance, you will easily be able to lower your house insurance cost and benefit from new customer discounts.
- Increase the excess amount you are willing to pay in case you make a claim.
- Choose the level of cover that is right for you. Insure with the right sum for both your buildings and contents insurance. If you do not have high value items, consider an ‘indemnity’ contents insurance rather than a ‘new for old’ one.
- Opt for a policy offering No Claim Bonus to lower your premium if you've gone for a few years without making any claim.
- Consider index-linked cover for building insurance to follow prices of building materials.
