Subrogation is an idea that's well-known in insurance and legal circles but rarely by the policyholders who hire them. Even if it sounds complicated, it is in your benefit to know the steps of the process. The more knowledgeable you are, the more likely it is that relevant proceedings will work out in your favor.
An insurance policy you hold is a commitment that, if something bad happens to you, the firm on the other end of the policy will make good in one way or another in a timely fashion. If your vehicle is hit, insurance adjusters (and the courts, when necessary) determine who was to blame and that party's insurance covers the damages.
But since determining who is financially responsible for services or repairs is typically a heavily involved affair – and time spent waiting sometimes compounds the damage to the policyholder – insurance firms usually opt to pay up front and assign blame later. They then need a way to recoup the costs if, when there is time to look at all the facts, they weren't actually in charge of the payout.
For Example
You are in a traffic-light accident. Another car ran into yours. The police show up to assess the situation, you exchange insurance details, and you go on your way. You have comprehensive insurance and file a repair claim. Later it's determined that the other driver was entirely to blame and his insurance should have paid for the repair of your vehicle. How does your insurance company get its funds back?
How Subrogation Works
This is where subrogation comes in. It is the method that an insurance company uses to claim reimbursement when it pays out a claim that turned out not to be its responsibility. Some insurance firms have in-house property damage lawyers and personal injury attorneys, or a department dedicated to subrogation; others contract with a law firm. Usually, only you can sue for damages done to your person or property. But under subrogation law, your insurance company is considered to have some of your rights in exchange for having taken care of the damages. It can go after the money originally due to you, because it has covered the amount already.
Why Does This Matter to Me?
For starters, if your insurance policy stipulated a deductible, your insurance company wasn't the only one that had to pay. In a $10,000 accident with a $1,000 deductible, you have a stake in the outcome as well – namely, $1,000. If your insurer is unconcerned with pursuing subrogation even when it is entitled, it might choose to recoup its expenses by increasing your premiums. On the other hand, if it knows which cases it is owed and goes after those cases efficiently, it is doing you a favor as well as itself. If all $10,000 is recovered, you will get your full deductible back. If it recovers half (for instance, in a case where you are found one-half culpable), you'll typically get $500 back, depending on the laws in your state.
Furthermore, if the total cost of an accident is more than your maximum coverage amount, you may have had to pay the difference, which can be extremely spendy. If your insurance company or its property damage lawyers, such as auto accident attorney Severna Park MD, successfully press a subrogation case, it will recover your losses in addition to its own.
All insurers are not the same. When shopping around, it's worth looking up the records of competing firms to find out if they pursue winnable subrogation claims; if they resolve those claims in a reasonable amount of time; if they keep their accountholders apprised as the case goes on; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements right away so that you can get your losses back and move on with your life. If, instead, an insurer has a record of paying out claims that aren't its responsibility and then covering its income by raising your premiums, you should keep looking.