Adjusted Premium: Definition & Importance

There are several types of insurance policies that are designed to protect your business. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. So having that added peace of mind can help you focus on the areas of business that matter most.

But not all insurance policies are created equal. There are ones specifically designed to cover things like damage to property, for example. And others are designed to protect against things like loss of income. As well, there can be adjustable premiums that can fluctuate and get adjusted.

So when does this happen and how can it affect the insurance policy you have? Keep reading our guide to learn everything you need to know about an adjusted premium in insurance!

List IconTable of Contents


KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • An adjusted premium can get increased or decreased by the insurer depending on circumstances.
  • Insurance companies assess the total cost of the policy and then divide it by how many years it’s expected to be in use by the policyholder.
  • There can be certain factors that get taken into account. These can include returns from investing paid premiums and the life expectancy of the policyholder.

What Is Adjusted Premium in Insurance?

When you have an insurance policy that includes an adjusted premium, the price doesn’t stay the same for the entire duration of the policy compared to standard premiums. This means that your insurer can increase or decrease the rate throughout the entire policy life. And this can get done regardless if you use public or private insurers.

Life insurance policies use adjusted premiums to calculate any costs that get associated with the insurance policy. They do this by amortizing the costs. So, an adjusted premium will often be the same as a net-level premium, but it includes an adjustment. In a lot of ways, it’s a type of assistance for insurers when it comes to things such as cost claims or health claims.

This gets done to help reflect the different costs associated with the acquisition expenses throughout the initial first year. It’s worth noting that changing the premium in this way differs from adjustable life insurance.

With adjustable life insurance, it’s more of hybrid insurance that lets the policyholder alter some of the policy features when necessary for more generous coverage. You can usually find adjusted premiums on certain whole life policies. This typically happens when premium payments are lower early on and then increase as the policy moves forward. Then, the premium payments will level out closer to the end of the policy life.

A life insurance policy that includes adjusted premiums will often depend on certain details, like the amount of coverage or other specific circumstances. There can also be different adjustment values depending on the risk across insurers and certain time periods.

Fresh Starts Deserve FreshBooks

Why Are Adjusted Premiums Important to Understand in Insurance?

Life insurance companies use adjusted premiums to help calculate a policy’s minimum cash surrender value (CSV). When they do this, it’s done using a process called the adjusted premium method. Every life insurance policy needs to do this because of the Nonforfeiture Provision.

Essentially, this means that every life insurance policy that gets issued must always have a value. And this is still the case even if the policyholder doesn’t use it for its main purpose. With life insurance policies, the primary purpose is a nominal payout should death occur.

So, if a policy gets terminated early or the policyholder chooses to cash out, the CSV is the amount they could receive. As well, the insured person has a few other choices. For example, they could also use the cash value as collateral or take a loan out against the insurance policy.

But why is all of this important to understand? Because an insurance company needs to determine if there’s a likelihood they might have to pay out more money than expected. If they foresee that this could happen, they can increase the premiums if the policy includes adjusted premiums.

The majority of insurance policies have the option to get adjusted when needed but only up to a certain limit. On the flip side, if the policy doesn’t include the option for premium adjustments then changes can’t get made. And this is also regardless if there are any other circumstances to consider.

Get A Headstart On Your Accounting

Summary

Insurance policies are intended to provide peace of mind and a type of safety net should something unfortunate happen that’s out of your control. Yet, not all policies are created the same or include the same provisions. Adjusted premiums are common with many insurance policies, and they allow the insurer to increase or decrease premium payments.

There could be a single adjustment type or a more robust risk adjustment system. It’s largely going to depend on the specific company, competitive markets, potential benefits, and the individual claim. For example, the private health insurance market can have continuous coverage provisions or excessive coverage for medical claims. They might also have a different level of product standardization compared to others.

Be sure to discuss access to coverage details with your insurer when looking into plan selection. Find out about things like the minimum benefit level, adjustment types, selection incentives, and the policy calculation period. There might even also be partial calculation periods and a default time period worth understanding.

Skip The Crash Course In Accounting

FAQs on Premium Adjustment

What Is Minimum Premium Adjustment?
 

When you’re provided a particular type of insurance coverage, the minimum premium adjustment is the least amount that can get charged. It can apply in a few different ways, like per policy, per type of coverage, or per location, for example.

What Is a Premium Adjustment Clause?
 

Essentially, a premium adjustment clause allows for a total return of up to 50% of your initial premium amount. Any premium that gets paid at the start of the insurance period gets based on the final sum to be insured.

What Is the Difference Between Earned and Unearned Premium?
 

Earned premiums are premiums that belong to an insurer and that get paid in advance. Unearned premiums are determined by insurance firms in advance. This happens when they’re required to give them back to policyholders if they terminate coverage before the premium period ends.

How Does Social Security Determine You Have a Higher Premium?
 

Insurance companies can use recent federal tax returns from the IRS to help determine this. There’s a sliding scale to help calculate any adjustments and it’s all based on modified adjusted gross income levels (MAGI).

Operating a business means exploring opportunities to help it grow. You might look into options to increase revenue, reduce expenses, or take on new debt to increase capital. However, sometimes certain debts can turn into bad debts and not perform the way they were intended. 

The good news is that there are ways for your business to estimate how much you could lose from bad debts. Continue reading to learn about how an allowance for credit losses works. We will also cover how to calculate it, an example, and more. 


KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Credit losses methodology is an accounting provision used to estimate the amount of lost money due to bad debts.
  • This calculation takes into account a number of factors. i.e., the current economic environment and historical loss experience.
  • The quality of the underlying collateral is also considered when estimating the amount of lost money due to bad debts.
  • The allowance for credit losses gets recorded as a contra-asset account on the balance sheet.

What is Allowance For Credit Losses?

The allowance for credit losses refers to an accounting provision. Companies use it to estimate the amount of lost money due to bad debts. The calculation takes into account a number of factors. These include the current economic environment, historical loss experience, and quality of underlying collateral.

Read about the credit loss allowance further below. We will talk about the allowance for credit losses method and more. So keep reading for vital credit losses standard tips. If you have current credit loss issues.

Put Your Books On Autopilot

How Allowance For Credit Losses Works

The size of the allowance will vary depending on the company’s business model and the types of loans and receivables that it has on its books. Companies that lend money to risky borrowers often have a larger allowance than companies that lend to safer borrowers.

Credit losses measurement is an important number for investors to track. It can give them a sense of the potential riskiness of a company’s loan portfolio. A large allowance may indicate a company’s expecting to lose a lot of money on its loans, which could put pressure on its financial performance.

Yet, a small allowance may suggest a company underestimating the riskiness of its loans. This could lead to problems down the road if losses start to materialize.

Keep in mind that it’s important to record all sale debt securities. When a company makes a loan, it records the full value of the loan as an asset on its balance sheet. As payments get made, the loan’s balance declines. So if a borrower stops making payments, the loan is in “default.”

At that point, the company will write-off the entire value of the loan as a loss. The write-off gets recorded as a negative number in the allowance for credit losses account.

The write-off has two effects on the company’s financial statements. First, it reduces the value of the company’s assets. Second, it increases the company’s expenses, which can hurt its bottom line.

There are two methods that companies can use to estimate the allowance for credit losses. “Incurred loss” method and the “probable maximum loss” method.

The incurred loss method is the more conservative of the two methods. Under this method, a company sets aside money for loan losses only when those losses are actually incurred. This means that a business will not set aside money for loans that are performing as expected.

The probable maximum loss method is a more aggressive approach. Under this method, a company sets aside money for loan losses even if those losses have not yet incurred. This approach assumes that all loans will eventually go into default and that the company will lose the entire value of the loan.

The choice of method is a matter of accounting judgment and there is no right or wrong answer. Some companies use a combination of the two methods.

Financial instruments – credit losses are important to keep track of. Neglecting to do so could affect your financial assets. A credit loss – audit will uncover any discrepancies. So you want to be sure to stay on top of all credit losses.

It’s important to keep in mind that losses can come in many forms. As such, you’ll want to check your credit card receivable. Moreover, you should keep a credit losses journal. Any deteriorated credit quality will reflect in your journal.

This way, you can keep a lifetime credit losses log to review when needed. Proper reporting of credit losses ensures that you don’t eat any bad debt expenses.

Analyze Your Finances

Allowance for Credit Losses Method?

The allowance for credit losses method is a way of estimating the amount of money that a business may lose due to bad debts. The calculation takes into account a number of factors. i.e., current economic environment, historical loss experience, and quality of underlying collateral.

Credit loss standard implementation is important for investors when analyzing financial statements. It can give them a sense of the potential riskiness of a company’s loan portfolio and help them make better investment decisions.

How to Calculate Allowance for Credit Losses

The size of the allowance will vary depending on the company’s business model and the types of loans and receivables that it has on its books. For example, companies that lend money to risky borrowers often have a larger allowance than those that lend to safer borrowers.

To calculate the allowance for credit losses, you will need to consider a number of factors. For example, the current economic environment, historical loss experience, and underlying collateral quality. You will also need to make some assumptions about the future behavior of borrowers.

Once you have gathered all of this information, you can use it to estimate the amount of money that a business may lose due to bad debts. The calculation is not an exact science, but it can give you a good sense of the potential riskiness of a company’s loan portfolio.

Allowance For Credit Losses Example

To illustrate, let’s say that Company XYZ has a loan portfolio of $1 million. The company determines the current economic environment is favorable. And that its historical loss experience is low. Additionally, the quality of the underlying collateral is high.

Based on these factors, Company XYZ may decide to have an allowance for credit losses of $100,000. This means that the company expects to lose up to $100,000 of its loan portfolio due to bad debts.

If losses materialize and there’s low allowance for credit losses, Company XYZ may need to shore up its financial position. This could include raising additional capital, selling assets, or reducing expenses.

Summary

Allowances for credit losses are an important number for investors to track. It can give them a sense of the potential riskiness of a company’s loan portfolio. A large allowance may indicate a company’s expecting to lose a lot of money on its loans, which could put pressure on its financial performance.

Today's Numbers Tomorrow's Growth

FAQs About Allowance For Credit Losses

How do I record my allowance for credit losses?
 

You can record your allowance for credit losses on your financial statements. They can be either a separate line item or a deduction from your loan portfolio.

What is the difference between allowance for credit losses and provision for credit losses?
 

Allowance for credit losses serves as an estimate of the money a company may lose due to bad debts. Provision for credit losses has an actual charge against income.

Where do we record allowance for credit losses?
 

The allowance for credit losses is usually recorded on the balance sheet. It’s either a separate line item or a deduction from the loan portfolio.

Is allowance for credit losses an asset?
 

No, allowance for credit losses is not an asset. It is a contra account to the loan portfolio and is typically recorded on the balance sheet as a deduction from loans.

What are the benefits of having an allowance for credit losses?
 

The main benefit is that it can give you a better sense of the potential riskiness of a company’s loan portfolio. A large allowance may indicate a company’s expecting to lose a lot of money on its loans, which could put pressure on its financial performance.