The statement says $60,000 of cash value, and the loan request comes back approved for $54,000. Nobody took the other $6,000. The carrier lends against the cash value and keeps a margin between the loan and the value backing it. Think of it like a bank lending 80% of what a house appraised for. If the collateral ever has to cover the loan, there has to be room for the interest that piles up first.
The margin exists because of the interest. Policy loan interest accrues and, if you don't pay it, gets added to the loan at the anniversary. If the loan equaled the full cash value on day one, a year of interest would push the loan past the collateral before the first anniversary. The policy would be in default with no way to cure it except cash from you. So the carrier holds back about a year of interest at the contract rate. That's why most contracts land the available amount somewhere around 90 to 95% of the cash surrender value.
Notice which number it's a percentage of. Cash surrender value, not cash value. On a policy still inside its surrender-charge period, the surrender charge comes off first, and the loan value is computed on what's left. That's a bigger gap in the early years of an IUL than on a whole life contract. The difference between the two numbers is in cash value and surrender value aren't the same number.
IUL contracts often hold back a little more. Monthly charges keep coming out of the account value whether there's a loan against it or not. So some carriers hold back a few months of charges on top of the interest. Whole life with paid-up additions runs the other direction. The PUA cash value carries no surrender charge, which is why a policy heavy in PUAs shows a loan value very close to its cash value.
Existing loans reduce the number too, and by more than their face. The available loan value is the maximum minus the current loan balance minus the interest that's accrued on it since the last anniversary. A $20,000 loan taken eleven months ago has closer to $21,000 counting against the room.
So the working figure to plan around is the loan value on the day you need it. The carrier's service line or the online portal will quote it in a minute, and it's always a little smaller than the cash value you had in your head. If you're building toward a specific use, a $40,000 truck or a $25,000 tuition bill, plan for the loan value to be there with room to spare. A loan taken right at the maximum has no cushion for the interest it's about to accrue.