How much do I get back if I surrender?
Less than most people expect. What arrives is the figure your own schedule shows for that policy year, reduced by any charge still running and by anything owed against the contract. Premiums paid are not the measure. In the opening years the gap is wide, because acquisition expense and the cost of the coverage were met first. The quoted figure is also not the figure kept, since tax can arise on the same transaction.
What kind of answer this is
- Claim type: Contract fact
- Jurisdiction: Contract dependent
Every element of the figure is printed in your own contract or quoted by the insurer. Nothing here estimates a number for any particular policy.
How it works
Ask the insurer for a quotation rather than reading an old illustration. It will state a figure for today and one for each of the coming years, with the guaranteed column shown apart from anything projected on top. Only the first column is owed to you.
The cost or the catch
Households routinely arrive at this question expecting their premiums back and find a shortfall running to five figures. Saying so is not a reason to stay. It is the reason to obtain the number before the decision rather than after it, because the decision cannot be taken back.
Where this answer may not apply
- Charge schedules differ by insurer, by product and by issue year, and some contracts carry no charge at all.
- A partial surrender pays less and leaves a reduced contract in force, which is a different transaction.
- The illustrated column is not the guaranteed column. Dividends are not guaranteed and figures above the guaranteed schedule are not promised.
- Contractual guarantees are obligations of the issuing insurer and depend on its financial strength. They are not government backed. Assuris protects Canadian policyholders within its published limits.
What to verify in your own contract
- The figure quoted in writing by the insurer, with the date it was quoted.
- The guaranteed schedule, read separately from the illustrated one.
- The year in which the guaranteed schedule first equals total premiums paid.
- Any charge still running against the contract.
- Anything owed against the contract, including the interest gathered on it.
Continue to the full explanation
Prepare for an existing policy review.
Sources
- The surrender value schedule of the policy contract, insurer specific, verified 2026-08-30
- Assuris, published protection limits, verified 2026-08-30
Accountability and disclosure
- Written by
- José Salloum
- Professional capacity
- Financial security advisor, Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial
- Reviewed by
- Insurance and contract education tier, reviewed under a licensed insurance professional's own authority
- Jurisdiction
- Contract dependent
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30
- Version
- 1.0
- Compensation disclosure
- Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial, may receive insurer paid compensation if a policy is purchased. It takes the form of first year compensation followed by renewal compensation, and the amount varies by insurer, product, age, premium, contract design, riders and the arrangement with the managing general agency. No single figure would describe every contract honestly, and none is published here.
- Report a correction
- Info@ibcfinancial.com. Write without a policy number, medical information or account details.
Last reviewed 2026-08-30. By Jose Salloum, Financial Security Advisor.