Budget Direct Motor Burnout cover
Budget Direct Home and Contents Insurance automatically covers loss or damage to your domestic appliances and whitegoods (e.g. fridges, washing machines, dishwashers) due to the following 10 insured events:
- Storm and rainwater (flood cover is optional)
- Impact at home (e.g. fallen tree)
- Fire
- Breakage of glass, ceramic and sanitary fixtures
- Lightning
- Malicious damage, vandalism, riot or civil commotion
- Theft (or attempted theft)
- Explosion
- Escape of liquid (e.g. burst pipe)
- Earthquake.
If you also want your appliances to be insured against electric motor burnout – also known as fusion damage – you can add optional ‘Motor Burnout’ cover to your policy.
This cover applies only to motors that are 10 years old or under.
What’s covered?
| Motor burnouts caused by... | In domestic appliances such as... |
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1. Power surges caused by lightning are covered – even if you do not have Motor Burnout cover.
What’s not covered?
Motor Burnout cover does not cover:
- the cost of removing or replacing a submerged or underground motor
- damage to fuses, switches, lighting or heating elements, electrical contacts or protective devices
- replacing worn or damaged parts caused by normal wear and tear
- loss or damage that occurs because you cannot use the motor, such as contamination of a pool
- the costs of hiring a replacement motor or appliance
- any motor that is over 10 years old
- damage to a refrigerator or freezer caused by spoiled food
- any motor that is covered by a warranty
- any motor that is part of an item used in connection with your business, trade or occupation
- any motor in a vehicle, e-bike, e-scooter, or personal e-transporter.
Food spoilage
If you have Motor Burnout cover, we can also pay for spoilage of perishable food in fridges or freezers resulting from fusion damage (some exclusions apply – for details, please read the PDS).
Find out more
The information on this page is a summary only. For more details about Budget Direct home and contents insurance, including the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions that apply, please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
How to make a claim
If your home and/or contents are lost, damaged or destroyed by an insured event and you need to claim, we’re here to help. Make a claim on your home insurance policy.
How do I add Motor Burnout cover to my policy?
For an additional premium, you can add optional Motor Burnout cover to your Budget Direct Home and Contents Insurance policy.
You can do this when you get a quote and buy a policy. (During the quote process you’ll be presented with an initial price before being asked to ‘refine your cover’: This is your opportunity to add optional covers, including Motor Burnout cover.)
If you’ve already bought a policy, you can add Motor Burnout cover by contacting us or logging into your online account and editing your policy.
How will my claim be settled?
After you’ve lodged your claim, we may send an assessor to your home to investigate the cause of the electric motor burnout.
If necessary, we’ll ask an electrician to verify the cause.
Upon acceptance of your claim, we’ll repair or replace the motor.
Contents insurance vs home appliance insurance vs manufacturer’s warranty
Heard about ‘home appliance insurance’ but not sure how it compares to contents insurance? Wondering whether a manufacturer’s warranty is all the cover you need? Here’s how these three forms of appliance protection differ:
| Contents insurance | Insures your household contents, including your domestic appliances, against loss or damage due to sudden and unexpected events like fire, storm and theft. |
| Home appliance insurance | More common in the US than in Australia, it covers the repair or replacement of systems (e.g. plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling) and appliances that break or fail due to normal wear and tear. (Also known as appliance protection cover or home warranty protection.) |
| Manufacturer’s warranty | A voluntary promise offered by the manufacturer to repair or replace their product if it develops a defect within a specified amount of time. Retailers sometimes offer to sell you an extended warranty. (Warranties are separate from your consumer guarantees.) |
