Short Rate TableCalculator

View and compare insurance short rate tables used by major Canadian insurers

This is the full, day-by-day short rate cancellation table that Canadian auto and home insurers use to calculate your refund when you cancel a policy before its renewal date. Choose an insurer below to see its exact schedule, or enter your own numbers in the short rate calculator to get your refund in dollars.

Desjardins Insurance Short Rate Table

Percentage of annual premium earned based on days in force

Days in force

of 365

Earned

36%

Refund

64%

Penalty vs pro rata

11.3%

Desjardins Insurance keeps 36% of the annual premium at day 90; pro rata would be 24.7%.

Days in Force	Earned %	Refund %	Penalty %
1–3 days	8%	92%	7.5%
4–7 days	9%	91%	7.5%
8–11 days	11%	89%	8.4%
12–15 days	12%	88%	8.3%
16–19 days	14%	86%	9.2%
20–23 days	16%	84%	10.1%
24–26 days	18%	82%	11.2%
27–30 days	19%	81%	11.2%
31–34 days	21%	79%	12.1%
35–38 days	22%	78%	12.0%
39–42 days	23%	77%	11.9%
43–46 days	24%	76%	11.8%
47–49 days	25%	75%	11.8%
50–53 days	26%	74%	11.9%
54–57 days	27%	73%	11.8%
58–61 days	28%	72%	11.7%
62–65 days	29%	71%	11.6%
66–69 days	30%	70%	11.5%
70–73 days	31%	69%	11.4%
74–76 days	32%	68%	11.5%
77–80 days	33%	67%	11.5%
81–84 days	34%	66%	11.4%
85–88 days	35%	65%	11.3%
89–92 days	36%	64%	11.2%
93–96 days	37%	63%	11.1%
97–99 days	38%	62%	11.2%
100–103 days	39%	61%	11.2%
104–107 days	40%	60%	11.1%
108–111 days	41%	59%	11.0%
112–115 days	42%	58%	10.9%
116–119 days	43%	57%	10.8%
120–122 days	44%	56%	10.8%
123–126 days	45%	55%	10.9%
127–130 days	46%	54%	10.8%
131–134 days	47%	53%	10.7%
135–138 days	48%	52%	10.6%
139–142 days	49%	51%	10.5%
143–146 days	50%	50%	10.4%
147–149 days	51%	49%	10.5%
150–153 days	52%	48%	10.5%
154–157 days	53%	47%	10.4%
158–161 days	54%	46%	10.3%
162–165 days	55%	45%	10.2%
166–169 days	56%	44%	10.1%

Days in Force	Earned %	Refund %	Penalty %
170–172 days	57%	43%	10.2%
173–176 days	58%	42%	10.2%
177–180 days	59%	41%	10.1%
181–184 days	60%	40%	10.0%
185–188 days	61%	39%	9.9%
189–192 days	62%	38%	9.8%
193–195 days	63%	37%	9.8%
196–199 days	64%	36%	9.9%
200–203 days	65%	35%	9.8%
204–207 days	66%	34%	9.7%
208–211 days	67%	33%	9.6%
212–215 days	68%	32%	9.5%
216–219 days	69%	31%	9.4%
220–222 days	70%	30%	9.5%
223–226 days	71%	29%	9.5%
227–230 days	72%	28%	9.4%
231–234 days	73%	27%	9.3%
235–238 days	74%	26%	9.2%
239–242 days	75%	25%	9.1%
243–245 days	76%	24%	9.2%
246–249 days	77%	23%	9.2%
250–253 days	78%	22%	9.1%
254–257 days	79%	21%	9.0%
258–261 days	80%	20%	8.9%
262–265 days	81%	19%	8.8%
266–268 days	82%	18%	8.8%
269–272 days	83%	17%	8.9%
273–276 days	84%	16%	8.8%
277–280 days	85%	15%	8.7%
281–284 days	86%	14%	8.6%
285–288 days	87%	13%	8.5%
289–292 days	88%	12%	8.4%
293–296 days	89%	11%	8.3%
297–299 days	90%	10%	8.4%
300–303 days	91%	9%	8.4%
304–307 days	92%	8%	8.3%
308–311 days	93%	7%	8.2%
312–315 days	94%	6%	8.1%
316–318 days	95%	5%	8.2%
319–326 days	96%	4%	7.6%
327–334 days	97%	3%	6.5%
335–341 days	98%	2%	5.4%
342–349 days	99%	1%	4.3%
350–365 days	100%	0%	2.1%

What is a short rate table?

A short rate table is the schedule an insurer uses to decide how much of your annual premium it keeps when you cancel a policy mid-term. Instead of refunding the premium for every unused day, the insurer keeps an “earned” percentage that is slightly higher than a simple day-by-day (pro rata) split. That extra few percent covers the fixed cost of writing — and then unwinding — a policy that was meant to run a full year.

The table is read by “days in force”: find the row matching how many days your policy was active, read the earned percentage, and the rest is your refund. Most Canadian auto and home policies run on a 365-day term, so the schedule climbs from a single-digit penalty in the first week to keeping 100% of the premium in the final days before renewal.

Why insurers use short rate instead of pro rata

A pro rata cancellation refunds exactly the unused portion — cancel halfway through a $1,200 policy and you get about $600 back. Short rate keeps a little more than that. The gap — about 6 to 8 points of your annual premium on the standard table, up to about 13 points early in the term on some insurers' own schedules, and smaller the closer you get to renewal — is how the insurer recovers acquisition costs (broker commission, underwriting, issuing documents) that were spread across a full year, and discourages treating an annual policy as month-to-month coverage.

Short rate is not always charged. Most insurers switch to pro rata — no penalty — when you cancel for a qualifying reason such as selling your vehicle, a total loss, moving out of province, or switching to another policy with the same insurer. Always ask whether your reason qualifies before you confirm a cancellation.

How to read this table

Days in Force: how many days your policy was active before cancellation.
Earned %: the percentage of your annual premium the insurer keeps.
Refund %: the percentage you get back (100% minus earned).
Penalty %: roughly how much more you lose than a pro rata cancellation. This column is an approximation — it compares the earned percentage against a day-by-day estimate taken at the middle of each row's day range, so treat it as a guide rather than an exact figure.

Worked example: on the standard table, a policy cancelled at 90 days has earned about 31%. On a $1,200 premium the insurer keeps $372 and refunds $828. A pure pro rata refund would have returned about $904, so the short rate penalty here is roughly $76 — a little over 6% of the annual premium.

Which insurers use the standard table

Many Canadian insurers — including Aviva, CAA, Pembridge, Echelon, Travelers Dominion and Facility Association — use the same industry-standard schedule shown above, so their cancellation maths is identical. Coachman runs a near-identical variant of its own that sits 1% lower on a handful of days. Others run their own schedules: TD, Desjardins and Intact retain more through the middle of the term (at day 90: TD and Desjardins 36%, Intact 34%, against 31% on the standard table), while Economical (Definity) charges the pro rata earned premium plus a flat 7%, 4% or 2% penalty by tier. Switch insurers above to compare.

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