Unless you had cash value on your life insurance policy or canceled it in the "free look" period or mid-payment cycle, you would not receive any of the money back. Because term life insurance provides death benefit-only coverage (and no cash value component), there is no cash value to surrender when you cancel your policy. When you cancel the policy in this manner, you walk away with the cash surrender value - and the longer you hold onto your policy, the more you get back.
If you want, you also can take out your whole life insurance policy's entire cash surrender value if you want by canceling, otherwise known as surrendering your policy. If you do not want the insurer to use the cash value to keep your insurance, you can simply cancel the policy. If you stop making payments, some insurance companies will automatically cash in the life insurance policy; others will allow your whole life insurance policy to lapse.
Also, if you make a portion of the premium upfront, then cancel the term life insurance policy, the company must refund these upfront, prepayments. Whole life policies can pay cash values if they are canceled, with fewer penalties and fees, but no return on the premiums.
If you cancel in February, an insurance company will refund you for the annual premiums paid. Premiums are not refunded when you cancel either permanent or term policies, but you will get cash value for your permanent and whole-life policies, less any applicable penalties. Note that if you cancel your life insurance policy and then wish to take out another one, you must apply again and you may have to pay higher premiums (rates are partially based on age) or may not even be eligible for coverage (if you have or develop a significant medical condition). If you do not need life insurance protection and do not want to use life insurance as an investment vehicle -- since you can usually get better returns elsewhere -- you might just decide that paying higher premiums on one whole-life policy is not worth it and that you might like a new policy with lower monthly premiums.
While permanent life insurance is more expensive than term life insurance, if you have the choice, upgrading your existing policy might be in line with your longer-term goals, instead of getting a new permanent policy and going through the qualifying process all over again. When insured policyholders pay premiums for coverage, part of this money goes to purchase insurance that provides the death benefit, while part is invested to allow the policy to accumulate cash value. The insurance company may retain all (or a larger portion) of the portion of the cash value that has accrued, as a penalty, if you attempt to cancel your policy before the end of the withdrawal period. Canceling would require you to pay an income tax on that cash, and you might need to pay the insurance company's surrender charge.
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