Pro Rata Rate
Definition of "Pro Rata Rate"
The term pro rata comes from Latin and translates to in proportion, proportionally, the proportion of, proportionately determined, or according to a specific rate. It is often used in legal and economic texts or contexts to express a just distribution of an allocation. Pro rata generally refers to shares of a whole that is split in various ways, like a year is divided into 12 months or 365 days, a cost is divided in two ways that correspond in value to the profit, an asset is split into two, corresponding with the investment of each party.
The reason for which we discuss pro rata in the insurance world is because there are many pro rata elements in the field. The term weighs heavily on proportionate distributions of gains, liabilities, premiums, and payments, and the insurance industry deals with all of these. Pro rata clauses deal with spitting the coverage. In contrast, pro rata cancellations cover policies terminated during their coverage.
Pro rata rates are ways through which an insurance company can determine monthly payments or additional payments to an existing policy. We’ll see how just below.
Where is Pro Rata Rate Used?
Usually, insurance policies have a timeline of 12 months, a full year. There are, however, several types of insurances that have policies running for a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. Not all types of insurances are limited to the 1-year timeline. Look at travel insurance, car insurance, or health insurance as their coverage can be for less than a year.
In those instances, the insurance company has to establish an amount for the insurance premium. So, if an annual premium costs $1,000, but the driver loans the car and only uses it for two and a half months, he can sign a policy for that period alone. The insurance company needs to calculate the pro rata of the premium for that period. The pro rata rate, in this case, would be:
Pro Rata Rate = daily premium X days
Pro Rata Rate = ($1,000(annual premium)/365) x 76 (two and a half months)
Pro Rata Rate = $208 approximately
Another situation in which these pro rata rates help insurance companies to carefully calculate the exact premium required for a policy is when the policy changes. So, if John has a $1,000 annual premium for his car, but sometimes during that period, he decides to add another car to the policy from August 24th. In this situation, the start date, end date, and the date when the policy changes are required for a correct calculation. The pro rata rate, in this case, would be:
Pro Rata Rate = daily premium X days
Pro Rata Rate = ($1,000/365) X 130
Pro Rata Rate = $356 approximately
The figures are usually rounded up.
Popular Insurance Terms
part of the Model Uniform Life and Health Insurance Policy Provisions Law giving an insurer a time limit on contesting coverage for preexisting conditions or misrepresentation. This law, ...
Picture of future dividends that the insurance company expects to be allocated to a specific block of policies. The accuracy of this picture depends on the actual future mortality, ...
Same as term Coinsurance: ...
Coverage for an insured firm if its business debtors fail to pay their obligations. The insured firm can be a manufacturer or a service organization but it cannot sell its products or ...
Mathematical premise stating that the greater the number of exposures, (1) the more accurate the prediction; (2) the less the deviation of the actual losses from the expected losses (X - x ...
Individual action or failure to act as a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances, resulting in harm to another. Also called negligence. A reasonably prudent person is ...
A ceding company's premium to which the reinsurance premium factor is used to produce the reinsurance premium. ...
Difference between the actual mortality experience and the expected mortality experience. In statistical terms, this is known as the deviation of the actual (X) from the expected (X). The ...
Time interval between the date benefits end under Social Security and the date these benefits resume. For example, survivor benefits are paid only as long as the parent (if less than age ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.