Entendiendo la anulación y el rescate en los seguros de vida: una revisión de los principales detonantes e hipótesis

Carmen Perán Mazón; María Villeta; José Luis Valencia

doi:10.26360/2026_02

Authors

Carmen Perán Mazón Facultad de Estudios Estadísticos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Madrid. España. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2574-6724
María Villeta Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España). Centro de Estudios e Investigación para la Gestión de Riesgos Agrarios y Medioambientales (CEIGRAM), (España) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0734-8440
José Luis Valencia Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España). Centro de Estudios e Investigación para la Gestión de Riesgos Agrarios y Medioambientales (CEIGRAM), (España) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6872-4414

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26360/2026_02

Keywords:

life insurance, surrender, policyholder behaviour, lapse behaviour, surrender risk, lapse risk

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive review of academic literature addressing policyholder behaviour in relation to lapses and surrenders in life insurance, covering 85 publications over recent decades, representing, to the best of our knowledge, the most extensive review conducted to date in terms of the number of documents examined, excluding purely bibliographic studies. The study examines the approaches used in the literature and incorporates a substantially broader set of hypotheses than those examined in previous review studies, encompassing more than 20 key hypotheses. As a distinguishing feature, the review classifies the findings, by publication date, by product type—particularly differentiating between contracts with and without surrender value—as well as by country, taking into account differences in market characteristics, legal frameworks, taxation, and the existence of secondary insurance markets. The objective is to offer a structured synthesis of current knowledgein life insurance lapse and surrender, tailored to specific insurance products and market contexts, thereby providing a framework for future researchers and practitioners which helps them to avoid misapplying empirical results. The paper concludes by identifying the main shortcomings and proposing potential new areas of future research in this field.

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