For Peace of Mind Motoring

Whenever you make a rental with Budget, you'll be covered by Standard Vehicle Insurance. Optional insurance upgrades are also available.

Responsibility and Liability

From the time you (or any authorised driver on the rental agreement) take charge of a Budget rental vehicle, you are financially responsible for:

  • any loss or damage to the vehicle up to the level of the excess provided for in the rental agreement and
  • any loss or damage to third party property in excess of the amount of cover provided for in the rental agreement.

Provided cover is not excluded by the terms of the Budget rental agreement, your financial liability for loss and/or damage to the Budget vehicle is limited to a pre-determined amount. The rental agreement outlines the circumstances where cover is excluded.

Standard insurance is mandatory for all general rentals, however corporate customers maybe exempt from this if covered by their own company insurance. This is determined by the Budget Corporate Discount (BCD) code, which can be entered when you make a reservation.

The liability (called an excess) is a substantial amount but is still a small proportion of the value of the Budget vehicle. Not withstanding this insurance, you are still liable for the excess. This can be reduced significantly by purchasing Excess Reduction along with your rental. Your standard excess amount will be advised to you at the time of rental and will be shown on your rental agreement.

The excess amount charged varies depending on the applicable Budget Corporate Discount (BCD) code or car group and whether the renter is under 25 years, but general leisure rentals, a standard excess of NZ$4313 applies for commercial vehicles and can be reduced if you purchase Excess Reduction.