Still going backwards and forwards as to which car I want next, either a Yeti or Octavia estate, but I am interested in the different standard specs of the car.

I really like the petrol vrs Octavia estate which tbh will be perfect for the family, however it is a bit bare on the toys front.

Not looking for anything special but adding sunset glass and heated seats has the insurance companies in a flap.

In my late 30s with 7+ years NCB so insurance premiums tend not to be to horrendous for me. Getting a quote for a standard vrs estate for £290 which I can live with.

But add on another few toys and insurance companies either dont want to quote or add on another 50% to the premium, which adds on plenty for the length of time I am going to have the car.

I dont want to add on £350 of factory options just to discover I will pay hundreds more in insurance over the coming years.

So is it worth having a toasty bum with heated seats just to have the annual hassle and increased premium this is going to give me.

How are other members finding this?

PS I wouldnt go down the route of not telling the insurance company of any factory options.

I have a load of options on my VRS (leather, heated, auto lights, sunset, rear parking and maxidot) and I have not seen my premium increase over my older VRS which only had the rear parking sensors. I can see no reason why the options you have would increase your premiums so much. I would suggest going with another insurance company (I am 35 with over 10 yrs NCB, 3 points, 1 claim in last 3 yrs, so similar profile to you).

IMHO the heated seats are only really needed if you go for the leather option. The cloth seats do not get very cold and the heated seats are not that hot either so only really needed on the colder feeling leather upgrade.

I have a load of options on my VRS (leather, heated, auto lights, sunset, rear parking and maxidot) and I have not seen my premium increase

I'm currently in a similar position to the OP, though I already have the car with loads of factory fit extras. My insurer (Aviva) look like they are going to consider each extra as a modification.

Would you mind divulging who you are insured with ? (my renewal is at the end of this week so I need to get some quotes pronto)

I recently asked Skoda Insurance (Allianz) this very question, as I have £2k's worth of options on my order and they do not consider ANY factory fitted options as a modification, only things fitted once the car has left the factory.

HTH.

I recently asked Skoda Insurance (Allianz) this very question, as I have £2k's worth of options on my order and they do not consider ANY factory fitted options as a modification, only things fitted once the car has left the factory.

HTH.

Totally agree...

I've never seen any insurer that counted a factory fit option as something to load the premium - this was even the case when I ran a Porsche 911 with about 6K worth of options, If your insurer is doing that - simple piece of advice - check to endure you haven't confused them - Aviva's international callcentres are less than brilliant, if not - change the insurer...

Simes.

I have never heard of factory fitted options affecting insurance premiums!!

I thought it was only 'aftermarket' modifications that they needed to know about?

Aviva's international callcentres are less than brilliant

You've hit the nail on the head there ! - I tried arguing with the call centre guy about things like metallic paint being optional extras and they surely wouldn't consider that to be a modification, but got nowhere. I've asked for someone more senior, and hopefully with a better grasp of english, to call me back but if they don't I guess I'll just take my business elsewhere - but where ?

I can confirm that factory options do count as modifications but it might just depend on how individual insurance companies want to deal with it ie increase premium or not.

I had an interesting discussion with DirectLine about this, if you buy/order a new vehicle they want to know about all factory options above the standard spec, some options will increase the premium others will not. You need to phone them to find out!

However, if you buy a second hand car which has all the options already in place, then that is OK because you cannot be expected to know what is standard spec or extras! Its a crazy world...

What a load of rubbish! They are a factory fitted option so the car is how it came out of the factory. If you were buying a car that was 5 years old you wouldn't know what was standard and what wasn't. It's confusing enough for us that know about cars such as when Skoda made cruise control standard, jumbo box etc.

If they are wanting to charge for factory fitted options then find another insurance company.

I'm currently in a similar position to the OP, though I already have the car with loads of factory fit extras. My insurer (Aviva) look like they are going to consider each extra as a modification.

Would you mind divulging who you are insured with ? (my renewal is at the end of this week so I need to get some quotes pronto)

I am with Tesco (so same as direct line).

I can confirm that factory options do count as modifications but it might just depend on how individual insurance companies want to deal with it ie increase premium or not.

This is from the e-mail that I was sent:

"Dear Mr ..........

We refer to your recent correspondence regarding your new Skoda Superb Combi 170 Elegance.

We can confirm that optional extras on the vehicle will not be classified as a modification.

Kind regards

Emma

Emma Derrick

Customer Service Associate

Allianz Insurance PLC"

I can confirm that factory options do count as modifications but it might just depend on how individual insurance companies want to deal with it ie increase premium or not.

I had an interesting discussion with DirectLine about this, if you buy/order a new vehicle they want to know about all factory options above the standard spec, some options will increase the premium others will not. You need to phone them to find out!

However, if you buy a second hand car which has all the options already in place, then that is OK because you cannot be expected to know what is standard spec or extras! Its a crazy world...

Interesting. I know the insurance market is tightening up hugely due to their huge losses last year (allegedly), but charging extra for factory options is taking the pi*s.

How can nav (looks the same as Bolero when off), leather, curtain bags, parking sensors etc. genuinely affect the premium?

Same engine, same performance, same likelihood to get 'borrowed'.

OK, I can feel the anger coming through a few of the posts here.

But, to play devils advocate, why wouldnt choosing things like leather seats, different alloys, sports suspension (thinking about elegance models here), xenon lights, sunset glass etc etc crank up the insurance premium?

The look and feel of the car would be different from the standard spec.

The car would be worth more and more desirable to the local sum bags who want to steal it???

OK, I can feel the anger coming through a few of the posts here.

But, to play devils advocate, why wouldnt choosing things like leather seats, different alloys, sports suspension (thinking about elegance models here), xenon lights, sunset glass etc etc crank up the insurance premium?

The look and feel of the car would be different from the standard spec.

The car would be worth more and more desirable to the local sum bags who want to steal it???

Why would heated seats, maxidot and bluetooth make it more desirable? These are options that you can't see....same as xenon's really unless you're 'in the know'. I don't see I should have to pay more to insure it. I have a spare wheel too...

I don't have to pay more to have a real wood floor in my house over a laminate floor.......

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=152613.0

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=152613.0

Its just a cash cow for getting more monies out of you. Its a joke. I have never been asked about options, just mods. Never will i go with a company that charges me for my spare wheel i'm afraid.

I too have gone thro'...'sorry sir but the extra's mean your car is modified ' carnival ! See some of my previous posts from end of 2007 onwards ! My Vrs has about £2k of options on it (bought 2nd hand from dealer).

I went with Brentacre initially (they still wanted to list all the 'extra's'), but then they cranked the premium up, so I switched to Aviva last year, as they stated in their T&C's online last year, that as long as the car left the factory with the extra's, it was ok (i.e standard)

I remember taking pelters from some on here for even suggesting that this was an issue. While I can understand why the insurance companies class the car as a higher risk (i.e xenons will cost more to replace if damaged etc), I think they have jumped on the bandwagon and are using this as an excuse to demand highly excessive premiums.

It'll certainly make me think twice about ordering a car with options in the future (which is a shame as I like my toys!) I think we need to be realistic, insurance companies exist to make money, so any loophole will be exposed, in order to make us bend over !

Let's face it most people will only discover if it really is an issue, if they have to claim, until then, you need to decide if it worth taking the risk...which is exactly the fear that the insurance companies prey on !

I too have gone thro'...'sorry sir but the extra's mean your car is modified ' carnival ! See some of my previous posts from end of 2007 onwards ! My Vrs has about £2k of options on it (bought 2nd hand from dealer).

I went with Brentacre initially (they still wanted to list all the 'extra's'), but then they cranked the premium up, so I switched to Aviva last year, as they stated in their T&C's online last year, that as long as the car left the factory with the extra's, it was ok (i.e standard)

I remember taking pelters from some on here for even suggesting that this was an issue. While I can understand why the insurance companies class the car as a higher risk (i.e xenons will cost more to replace if damaged etc), I think they have jumped on the bandwagon and are using this as an excuse to demand highly excessive premiums.

It'll certainly make me think twice about ordering a car with options in the future (which is a shame as I like my toys!) I think we need to be realistic, insurance companies exist to make money, so any loophole will be exposed, in order to make us bend over !

Let's face it most people will only discover if it really is an issue, if they have to claim, until then, you need to decide if it worth taking the risk...which is exactly the fear that the insurance companies prey on !

Yes but are they not going to pay out because you haven't declared your heated seats or maxidot? I can't see it myself and most insurance companies wouldn't even notice or know what was or wasn't standard. I think they just hope that you will bend over and accept it. The only one i can sort of understand is Xenon's as they are over £600 each so if you had a crash this would obviously affect the repair.

They may not increase your policy premium but they simply won't cover the "mods" you've had! :'(

Tescos used to consider factory options as just a "standard car", however they now insist on knowing about them and some of them are listed on your insurance documents. I was surprised that they considered parking sensors as a listable item. I suppose they regard bumpers as a common damage claim and parking sensors could add several hundred pounds to a claim involving bumper damage.

Why would heated seats, maxidot and bluetooth make it more desirable? These are options that you can't see....same as xenon's really unless you're 'in the know'. I don't see I should have to pay more to insure it. I have a spare wheel too...

I don't have to pay more to have a real wood floor in my house over a laminate floor.......

Because by adding all these "factory options" you are increasing the total purchase price ergo "value" of the car whilst also making the car more desirable to thieving scumbags who are in the know and steal cars to break up and sell as spares.

One example of this being the ratio of Columbus h/units being stolen against number of bolero h/units being stolen. My understanding is that FAR more Columbus units get nicked in fact i believe one member has had 3 stolen. And that is just one factory option.

As I said why would bluetooth, maxidot and heated seats make my car more desirable to thieves... They aren't going to have an options list with them when they are looking to get their next fix...

Insurance companies are robbing brass turds, end of story-€500 EXTRA for Class 3 "commercial travelling", just in case I might need to bring a sample down the road to someone. (I've only put 2000 miles on the car in the last 4 months, about 98% of which was private use....)

I have never heard of factory fitted options affecting insurance premiums!!

I thought it was only 'aftermarket' modifications that they needed to know about?

They are starting to be VERY picky and you do have to hunt around for the best deal even the Manufacures body kits/wheel sizeschanges are classed as modification by some insurers, coupled with the price hike this year of around 30/40% - due to losses last year apparently @~!