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What is surrender value?

Surrender value is what your insurer pays if you end a policy before it matures. Here is how it is worked out, why it starts low, and how to find yours.

Gross and net

The figure that matters is the net surrender value: what you would actually receive. Your insurer starts from the policy's guaranteed cash value, adds the cash value of bonuses already added, and takes off anything you owe.

Policy loans and their interest come off, as do unpaid premiums and any surrender charge the plan carries.

Work out your net surrender value

Worked exampleIllustration

Guaranteed cash valueS$27,400

Bonuses already addedS$3,800

Gross surrender valueS$31,200

Less policy loan and interestS$1,200

Net surrender valueS$30,000

Why it starts low

In the first years, your insurer recovers the costs of setting up the policy, including distribution costs. Those come out of the early value, so the surrender value is usually below the premiums you have paid, sometimes for many years.

Your benefit illustration shows surrender values year by year beside the premiums paid, so you can see when the value is expected to pass what you have put in.

How an endowment's value grows, with an illustration

Guaranteed and not guaranteed

Part of the surrender value is guaranteed. The rest comes from bonuses, which depend on how the insurer's participating fund performs. Once a bonus is added to your policy, it counts towards the surrender value.

Benefit illustrations show projected values at two assumed investment returns. Only the guaranteed part is certain.

Where to find yours

Ask for a dated figure: values change as premiums are paid and bonuses are added.

Insurer	Where to look
Prudential	The Prudential app or PRUServices, under the policy's Values tab
Manulife	MyManulife or the Manulife app, shown as Net Surrender Value
AIA	AIA+, or AIA customer service
Singlife	MySinglife, or its policy servicing page
Great Eastern	Your representative or Great Eastern's customer service
Income Insurance	Its surrender page explains how to request the figure
Other insurers	The insurer's app, customer service or your annual statement

Checked 14 October 2026.

Is it the best price?

It is the insurer's price for ending the policy. For an eligible endowment or whole life policy paid in cash, a buyer may pay more, because the buyer keeps the policy running to maturity. Not every policy qualifies.

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Surrender value questions

Why is it lower than what I have paid?

Because set-up and distribution costs are recovered in the early years. In most savings plans the value catches up with premiums paid only later in the term.

Does it change over time?

Yes. It usually rises over the term as premiums are paid and bonuses are added, and it falls if you take a loan against the policy.

Is surrender value the same as cash value?

The terms are often used loosely. What matters is the net surrender value: the amount you receive after every deduction.

Can my insurer give me a statement?

Yes. Ask for a dated surrender value statement. We ask for one too before making any offer.

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