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
Protection under an insurance policy. In property insurance, coverage lists perils insured against, properties covered, locations covered, individuals insured, and the limits of ...
Monetary sums attached to an insurance company's assets, as listed on the annual statement. ...
Difference between the yield on earning assets and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities. ...
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 ...
Coverage that indemnifies a third party lender if a customer refuses to repay a loan made on a faulty product and the dealer who arranged the loan refuses to correct the fault. This ...
One of two basic types of funding instruments for pensions or employee benefits, in which responsibility for plan assets is vested in a trustee. The other type is known as an insured plan, ...
Professional designation awarded by the American College. In addition to professional business experience in financial planning, recipients are required to pass national examinations in ...
Rules that apply to employee distributions (see rollover and withholding rules for qualified plan distributions: payment paid to employee) and that also apply to distributions to surviving ...
Coverage in automobile insurance providing protection in the event of physical damage (other than collision) or theft of the insured car. For example, fire damage to an insured car would be ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.