Unearned Premium Reserve

Definition of "Unearned premium reserve"

Fund that contains the portion of the premium that has been paid in advance for insurance that has not yet been provided. For example, if a business pays an annual premium of $1000 on January 1, the money is not earned by the insurer until the insurance coverage has been provided. On July 1, $500 would have been earned and $500 would remain as unearned premium, belonging to the policyholder. If either party cancels the contract, the insurer must have the unearned premium ready to refund. For this reason, insurance regulators require that insurers maintain an unearned premium reserve so that, in the event an insurer must be liquidated, there is enough money to pay claims and refund the unearned premium. Because computations for individual policies would be cumbersome, regulators have devised formulas for figuring unearned premium reserves.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Periodic payments to an annuitant. ...

Observance of an event occurring on a repeated basis that leads one to believe that a certain probability is attached to the occurrence of that event. For example, if there are a red ball ...

State law that stipulates that goodwill as an admitted asset cannot be greater than 10% of adjusted surplus. ...

Prepaid legal insurance coverage plan sold on a group basis. Entitles a group member to a schedule of benefits, at a stipulated premium, for adoptions, probates, divorces, and other legal ...

Clause in a property insurance policy that requires the insurance coverage in that policy to be allocated in the proportion that it bears to the total insurance coverage in force from all ...

Provision in many property insurance policies that allows an insured to pick coverage for selected perils. The choices are explosion; explosion, riot and civil commotion; explosion, riot ...

Dividends paid historically, currently, and projected. ...

Type of pension plan in which the employer (if noncontributory plan) or the employer and employee (if contributory plan) make level annual premium payments to fund the future retirement ...

Trade association of surplus lines agents and insurers. ...

Popular Insurance Questions