[Traum]

As I understand it (with some of the news coming from my auto insurance broker), ICBC has yet to release the full details of how additional drivers would affect your insurance. So currently, everyone is only working on whatever tidbits of news that has trickled through the news, or rumours they've heard. There is no point in jumping to any conclusions at the moment.

Based on what we do know, adding additional drivers may or may not increase your insurance premiums. Take a simple case of a husband and wife living together, where each of them have a car currently insured under their respective names. Also assume that the wife is at CRS level -8 (40% discount) while the husband is at CRS -2 (10% discount). If the husband adds his wife's name to his car's insurance, there is no additional charges involved since the wife has a cleaner CRS record than the husband does.

On the other hand, if the wife adds the husband's name to her car insurance, the insurance premiums she pays will go up. How much it goes up is still unknown. I just know "a percentage" of the premium will be calculated based on the husband's CRS level. I've heard of anything between 20 - 40% of the premium will be calculated based on the husband's rate. So assuming the car costs $1200 for the wife to insure alone with her 40% discount (ie. $2000 insurance premium with 0% discount), and 20% of the premium is calculated using her husband's rate, we have:

$2000 x 60% x 80% + $2000 x 90% x 20%

- the 60% reflects the wife's 40% discount
- the 80% means the wife accounts for 80% of the insurance premium calculation
- the 90% reflects the husband's 10% discount
- the 20% means the husband accounts for 20% of the insurance premium calculation

And we end up with $1320 for the insurance on the wife's car -- a $120 extra.

Now, if they have an adult son who also wants to drive the car and be added to the policy, but he only has a CRS level 0 (0% discount), then because he has the worst driving record among the additional drivers, his CRS level will be used in the calculation instead of the husband's. The insurance premium calculation then becomes:

$2000 x 60% x 80% + $2000 x 100% x 20%

- the 60% reflects the wife's 40% discount
- the 80% means the wife accounts for 80% of the insurance premium calculation
- the 100% reflects the adult son's 0% discount
- the 20% means the son accounts for 20% of the insurance premium calculation

and they pay $1360 for insurance.

Of course, knowing ICBC, the calculation they end us using probably won't be nearly nearly as clear cut. But that's the basic idea of it.

I have been told that as long as the primary driver can provide a name, DOB, and driver licence number of the additional drivers, the person can be added to the auto insurance policy. The cost of insurance will be calculated based on the primary driver's CRS, and the CRS of the worst driver among the list.

Still, these are all just unconfirmed reports of how stuff will be calculated. As always, it'll cost whatever ICBC feels like charging us when it comes into effect on Sept 1, 2019.