Unearned premium is the premium corresponding to the time period remaining on an insurance policy. These are proportionate to the unexpired portion of the insurance and appear as a liability on the insurer's balance sheet, since they would be paid back upon cancellation of the policy.
An earned premium refers to the premiumcollected by an insurance company for the portion of a policy that has expired. In other words, the earned premium is what the insured party has paid for a portion of time in which the insurance policy was in effect, but has since expired