CommissionlyLife Insurance Commission Calculator
This life insurance commission calculator turns a premium, a first-year rate, and a renewal rate into commission over the years you enter. The same steps work as an insurance commission calculator for other lines when the contract pays that way.
How to calculate life insurance commission
Start with the annual premium in the contract. Multiply it by the first-year commission rate. A $2,000 premium at 50% is $1,000 in year one. That 50% is an illustration you can replace. Carrier schedules differ by product, age, and whether the policy is term or permanent. This life insurance commission calculator does not store a schedule.
Renewal commission uses the same premium and the renewal rate, once for each year after the first. At 5%, the renewal is $100 a year. Over five years there are four renewal years, so renewal commission is $400. Add the first year and the total is $1,400. A one-year term has no renewal line.
Use the same boxes for other insurance when the pay is a first-year percent plus a smaller renewal percent on premium. Health, property, and casualty contracts often use that shape even when the percents are different. Enter the premium and the two rates from the appointment or the commission schedule. If the premium changes every year, this page is the level-premium case. Run it again with the new premium.
Draws, chargebacks, and overrides are not in the total. A chargeback can reclaim first-year commission if the policy lapses inside a period the carrier defines. An agency override is a separate percent paid to someone else. For a quota or an accelerator on sales that are not premium, use the sales commission calculator. For a base paycheck plus commission, use the salary plus commission calculator.
Worked example
The form opens on a $2,000 premium, 50% in year one, 5% on renewal, and five years. Year one is $1,000. Each later year is $100. Four renewal years are $400. The total is $1,400. None of those rates is a typical life commission. Replace them with the schedule for the product you actually sold.
Change the term to one year and the total falls to the first-year $1,000. Raise the renewal rate to 10% and each later year is $200, so four years add $800 and the five-year total is $1,800. The premium stays $2,000 in every year of this illustration.
First-year commission and renewal commission
First-year commission is the larger percent, paid on premium in the first policy year. Renewal commission is the smaller percent on premium that continues. Some schedules step the renewal down again after a few years, or stop it. This page uses one renewal rate for every year after the first. If your schedule changes at year six, run the early years here and the later years as a second calculation.
An insurance commission calculator is the same arithmetic when the contract is written as new business plus renewal. The product name does not change the multiplication. What changes is the percent and whether the carrier pays on the premium you typed or on a target premium that is lower. Type the premium the schedule actually uses.
Agency splits can take a share of what the carrier pays before it reaches the writing agent. This total is the commission from the rates you entered, before that extra split. If you keep 70% of carrier pay, multiply the result by 0.70 yourself, or put the carrier total into the commission split calculator. The [commission calculator](/) is the plain sale-times-rate version when there is no renewal year.
FAQ
How do you calculate life insurance commission?
Multiply the annual premium by the first-year rate, then multiply the same premium by the renewal rate for each year after the first. A $2,000 premium at 50% and then 5% for five years is $1,000 plus four times $100, which is $1,400. Enter the rates from the carrier schedule. The form does not look up a product.
What is the difference between first-year and renewal commission?
First-year commission is the percent on premium in the first policy year. Renewal commission is the percent on premium after that. The first year is usually larger. On the prefilled numbers, year one is $1,000 and each renewal year is $100. A contract can use more than one renewal rate. This page uses the single renewal rate you type.
Can I use this as an insurance commission calculator?
Yes, when the pay is a new-business percent plus a renewal percent on premium. Enter that premium and those two rates, whether the line is life, health, or property and casualty. If the contract pays a flat fee per policy instead of a percent, this page will not match it. Type the premium the schedule names, not a different face amount.
Does the premium have to stay the same every year?
This calculation assumes the premium you typed continues for every year in the term. That fits a level premium. If the premium rises or the client pays a different amount, the renewal line will be wrong. Run a separate calculation for the years with the new premium, and add the totals yourself. The page does not store last year's premium.
Are chargebacks included?
No. The total is commission earned on the rates and years you entered, assuming the premium stays in force. A lapse can create a chargeback that the carrier defines in the contract. This life insurance commission calculator does not subtract that clawback, and it does not know the free-look period. Treat a lapse as a separate reduction.
Is the result after an agency split?
No. The result is premium times the rates you entered. If an agency keeps part of the carrier commission before you are paid, that split is another step. You can multiply the total by the share you keep, or divide the carrier total on the commission split calculator. Taxes are not withheld here either. The figure is gross commission.
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About this calculator
Commissionly multiplies the premium by the first-year rate and by the renewal rate for each later year. Last updated October 22, 2026. The rates are yours to enter. The page does not publish a carrier schedule.
Last updated October 22, 2026.