What optional coverage are you referring to?
Is replacement insurance really worth it?
So - by law you need a minimum of "basic third party liability" through ICBC. From their website: "Third Party Liability coverage protects you when you're at fault in a crash and another motorist makes a claim against you. Your Basic Autoplan covers up to $200,000 of their injury costs and vehicle damage." Everything else is optional, but highly recommended. This includes things like extended third party liability, collision, comprehensive, and replacement insurance.
As an example of how the rates compare between ICBC and BCAA, here are some actual quotes I got (this is with CRS level -20, which is the maximum discount):
Basic third party liability: $745
ICBC Autoplan Broker
Extended third party liability ($3m): $166
Collision (rate group 27, $500 deductible): $651
Comprehensive (rate group 27, $300 deductible): $332
Total Optional Insurance: $1,149
Other fees (license, registration, etc): $79
TOTAL: $1,973
BCAA
Extended third party liability ($3m): $126
Collision ($500 deductible): $277
Comprehensive ($300 deductible): $233
BCAA membership (if not already a member): $80
Discounts (anti-theft, multi-vehicle, BCAA member, etc): -$153
Total Optional Insurance: $563
Other fees (license, registration, etc): $79
TOTAL: $1,387
Then there is replacement insurance, which basically covers the gap of depreciation if you get in an accident and write off your car. So if you get in an accident when your car is 3 years old, you will get a new 2021 Tesla Model 3 instead of a $50k payout (or whatever a 2018 model is worth in 3 years). My autoplan brokers weren't even offering it for me (or I didn't ask, because I didn't know about it) but BCAA quoted it as $153 per year for "Replacement Cost Plus".
All in all, comparing apples to apples - BCAA is $586 cheaper than ICBC, plus has some additional benefits like one accident forgiveness, etc. I highly recommend talking to someone from BCAA for more information if you're interested - I learned a lot from them (I'm switching my other vehicle over to BCAA).
