This paper initially presents bounds for the joint tail and the conditional tails of the backward and forward recurrence times. Using these bounds, we deliver an improvement to the lower bound for the renewal function given by Brown [Inequalities for distributions with increasing failure rate. In: Gelfand AE, editors. Contributions to the theory and applications of statistics, a volume in honour of Herbert Solomon. Orlando, FL: Academic; 1987. p. 3–17] for IFR inter-arrival times. Finally, this paper proposes a renewal type equation for the expected number of renewals in $(t,t+h]$ and, under certain conditions, improves Lorden's [On excess over the boundary. Ann Math Stat. 1970;41(2):520–527] well-known general upper bound for the expected number of renewals in $(t,t+h]$.

Recurrence times and the number of renewals in $(0,t]$ are fundamental quantities in renewal theory. Firstly, it is proved that the upper orthant order for the pair of the forward and backward recurrence times may result in NWUC (NBUC) interarrivals. It is also demonstrated that, under DFR interarrival times, the backward recurrence time is smaller than the forward recurrence time in the hazard rate order. Lastly, the sign of the covariance between the forward recurrence time and the number of renewals in $(0,t]$ at a fixed time point t and when $t\to \infty $ is studied assuming that the interarrival distribution belongs to certain ageing classes.