FREDERICTON, N.B. – New Brunswick’s plan to reduce the cost of car insurance will include a special discount for new and young drivers.

Premier Bernard Lord will announce a program to bring down the price of auto insurance without resorting to a public system, which he says would be too costly. He said two actuarial reports that reviewed a public insurance model put forward by a committee of the legislature concluded that costs were underestimated while benefits were overestimated.

“These reports confirm that we would pay higher insurance rates under a government-run monopoly instead of having lower rates in a competitive, regulated market,” Lord said. “My objective is to make sure that we have the lowest rates possible.”

Several details of Lord’s plan have been leaked to the news media in recent days, including his decision to create a New Brunswick Insurance Board to regulate the industry, instead of going through the Public Utilities Board.

Premiums have soared in New Brunswick in the past two years, and first-time drivers have been hit especially hard.