1. Budget Direct Insurance
  2. Car Insurance
  3. Driver Plans

All About Car Insurance Driver Plans and Vehicle Usage Definitions

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At Budget Direct Insurance, we know every car is used differently. You may only drive it on weekends, or maybe your family will also use the car. Perhaps you use it during the day as part of your job? These contributing factors are taken into account when we prepare your policy cover and premium quotation.

We take time to get these details right from the start. This will help us to handle any claims much quicker.

When customising your policy, please consider the Driver Plan and Vehicle Usage that best suits you and how your vehicle is used.

Driver Plans

Who drives your vehicle? Is it just you? Do your family members occasionally drive it? What about friends?

We’ll ask questions about who drives the car most frequently – the Main Driver. This helps us to quote you the correct amount for your insurance. This information is a key part of the claims assessment process, so it is important that these details are accurate.

If you’re not sure, please call our Customer Care team at 6221 2111 to get the right plan, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 8pm and Saturdays, 9am to 3pm (Closed on Sundays and public holidays). We are here to help you!

You can select from two options:

Authorised Driver Plan

This plan covers:

  • The Policyholder
  • The person who uses your car most frequently (i.e. the Main Driver), if not the Policyholder, and
  • Anyone else you allow to drive your car.

However, if someone who lives with the Main Driver (i.e. a Household Member) drives your car, you have to name them on your policy in order for them to be covered.

IMPORTANT: A Household Member of the Main Driver who is not named as a Named Driver under the Authorised Driver Plan will not be covered under your policy.

Named Driver Plan

This plan covers ONLY:

  • The person who uses your car most frequently (i.e. the Main Driver), and
  • Persons you include on your policy as Named Drivers.

IMPORTANT: The Policyholder must also be listed either as a Named Driver or the Main Driver under the Named Driver Plan in order to be covered under your policy.

Vehicle Usage

The more you use your car, especially during the day, the greater the chance of something happening to it. That's why it’s important to understand how often your car is being used. This helps us to provide the right level of cover.

When you obtain your quote, we will ask questions about how often your vehicle is used. This helps us to calculate the right premium for your situation.

Usage Definitions

Private and Commuting Use is use of your car for social, domestic and pleasure purposes, and for travelling between home and a regular place of work only.

Private and Occasional Business Use is “Private and Commuting Use” above, plus use for occasional business purposes by the Main Driver or any Named Driver only. "Occasional Business” means your car is not registered for business use, and the use of your car is not an essential part of earning income for a business.

Private and Business Use is "Private and Commuting Use” above, plus use for the business and/or occupation by the Main Driver or any Named Driver only.

We allow:

  • Private car-pooling provided that no profit is made from such use
  • Carrying of goods or samples which are not for sale or payment


We do not allow:

  • Carrying of passengers or delivery of goods for payment
  • Driving tuition or test (whether paid or not)
  • Hire to other people
  • Any other purposes which we have not agreed to in writing


We do not cover the following professions, trade or services:

  • Driving instructors requiring business use
  • Professionals who are involved with the entertainment industry
  • Professional sportsmen or sportswomen
  • Personnel of foreign armed forces
  • Foreign diplomats and foreign diplomatic staff

Off-Peak Car Drivers Pay Less

Make an even bigger saving on your insurance when you drive an Off-Peak Car (OPC).

Get an additional 15% off your car insurance when you drive an Off-Peak Car.

Frequently Asked Questions read more >

What’s an Off-Peak Car?

These are cars that can only be driven during weekends and non-peak hours. It cuts costs on your motoring with savings on import taxes and road tax. And of course at Budget Direct Insurance you get to make even bigger savings on your car insurance.

Does your insurance go up if you use your vehicle for work?

The vehicle usage will have an impact on the premium depending on how and how frequent the vehicle is being used.

When you go through our ‘get a quote’ process either through Budget Direct Insurance’s website or talking to one of our Customer Care executive, we will ask you how your vehicle will be used.

There are 3 definitions on vehicle usage and the use of vehicle that we do/do not allow:

Private and Commuting Use is use of your car for social, domestic and pleasure purposes, and for travelling between home and a regular place of work only.

Private and Occasional Business Use is "Private and Commuting Use" above, plus use for occasional business purposes by the Main Driver or any Named Driver only. "Occasional Business" means your car is not registered for business use, and the use of your car is not an essential part of earning income for a business.

Private and Business Use is "Private and Commuting Use" above, plus use for the business and/or occupation by the Main Driver or any Named Driver only.

Why do you pay more for insurance if you drive a lot?

In general, if you regularly use your car for work, you are more likely to pay more for your car insurance than if you use if only for leisure or to commute to/ from work as the more time you spend on the road, the more exposure you will have with the elements on the roads and the more likely you will be involved in an accident, especially during the traffic peak hours of the day.

At Budget Direct Insurance, we price based on how your vehicle is used.

Is insurance cheaper if you drive less? 

In general, if you use your car only for leisure or to commute to/ from work, you are likely to pay lesser for car insurance than if you regularly use your car for work as the lesser time you spend on the road, the less likely you are to be involved in an accident.

For example, off-peak car drivers will get a discount for their car insurance as they are not on the roads during rush hour where more cars are present for accidents to happen.

At Budget Direct Insurance, we price based on how your vehicle is used.

What is considered a low mileage driver? 

Low mileage driver is a driver who drives fewer kilometres than average drivers/ car owners in a year.

At Budget Direct insurance, drivers who own an Off-Peak Car (car with restriction on usage hours, easily recognised by a “red” vehicle registration plate) will enjoy lower premium as they either spend lesser time on the road, or they usually use their car during off-peak hours during the evening and weekends and hence, the likelihood of them being involved in an accident is lower.

Does adding drivers to insurance make it cheaper? 

At Budget Direct Insurance, we price based on the profile of the drivers. Therefore age, driving experience, occupation, claim history and whether the driver is entitled to the Certificate of Merit would have an impact on the premium.

There may be instances whereby the addition of drivers

  • may lower the premium (e.g. adding mature and experienced driver with claims free records).
  • may increase the premium especially when young and/or inexperienced drivers (drivers less than 25 years old and/or with less than 2 years of valid driving licence) are added.
Is car insurance tied to car or driver? 

Car insurance is generally tied to car owner whereby he/she will be the Policyholder.

This means that if the Policyholder authorised someone to drive their car and the authorised driver got into an accident, the car insurance will cover the damages for the car, provided they had opted for the Authorised Driver plan and the authorised driver is not a household member as under Budget Direct Insurance’s Car Policy, all household members of the Main Driver must be named in order to be covered under the policy. However, if you had opted for Named Driver plan, all drivers must be named under the policy in order for them to be covered.

Premium is computed based on the plan type selected and the profile of drivers listed.

Are all drivers covered under my insurance? 

At Budget Direct Insurance, this will depend on the driver plan that you choose. There may be additional excess applicable for Named/ Unnamed Drivers depending on the driver plan selected.

There are 2 types of driver plans:

a) Authorised Driver Plan
This plan covers:
  • The Policyholder
  • The person who uses your car most frequently (i.e. the Main Driver), if not the Policyholder, and
  • Any driver with a valid driving licence driving with your permission (but if such person resides with the Main Driver, i.e. a Household Member, you must name such person as a Named Driver in order for them to be covered).
  • The Unnamed Driver Excess and the Named Driver Excess may apply.

IMPORTANT: A Household Member who is not named as a Named Driver under the Authorised Driver Plan will not be covered under your policy.

b) Named Driver Plan
This plan covers ONLY:
  • The person who uses your car most frequently (i.e. the Main Driver), and
  • Persons you include on your policy as Named Drivers
  • the Named Driver Excess may apply

IMPORTANT: The Policyholder must also be listed either as a Named Driver or the Main Driver under the Named Driver Plan in order to be covered under your policy.

There are also instances whereby the driver will not be covered even if you authorised/named him/her under the policy:

  • if he/she does not have a valid driving licence,
  • drives under the influence of alcohol/drugs,
  • drives the vehicle for commercial purposes such as lalamove, grab, grabhitch etc.
Can you have 2 main drivers on car insurance? 

It is unlikely that there are 2 main drivers for a vehicle as there is a tendency that 1 driver will drive more than the other.

At Budget Direct Insurance, for us to determine the Main Driver of the vehicle, we may ask questions such as:

Premium is computed based on the plan type selected and the profile of drivers listed.

  • Who will be driving to work?
  • Who will be driving more (frequency and not the mileage) in a week?
  • Who will be driving during family outing?