Subrogation and How It Affects Policyholders

Subrogation is an idea that's understood among legal and insurance companies but rarely by the policyholders they represent. If this term has come up when dealing with your insurance agent or a legal proceeding, it would be in your self-interest to comprehend the nuances of how it works. The more you know, the more likely an insurance lawsuit will work out favorably.

Any insurance policy you have is an assurance that, if something bad occurs, the business on the other end of the policy will make restitutions in one way or another in a timely manner. If your vehicle is rear-ended, insurance adjusters (and the courts, when necessary) decide who was to blame and that party's insurance pays out.

But since figuring out who is financially accountable for services or repairs is typically a confusing affair – and time spent waiting often adds to the damage to the victim – insurance companies often opt to pay up front and figure out the blame afterward. They then need a path to recover the costs if, ultimately, they weren't responsible for the expense.

Let's Look at an Example

You head to the Instacare with a sliced-open finger. You hand the receptionist your medical insurance card and he writes down your plan details. You get stitches and your insurance company gets a bill for the medical care. But on the following morning, when you clock in at your place of employment – where the accident happened – you are given workers compensation forms to turn in. Your employer's workers comp policy is actually responsible for the hospital trip, not your medical insurance company. It has a vested interest in getting that money back somehow.

How Does Subrogation Work?

This is where subrogation comes in. It is the process that an insurance company uses to claim payment after it has paid for something that should have been paid by some other entity. 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. Under ordinary circumstances, only you can sue for damages to your person or property. But under subrogation law, your insurance company is given some of your rights in exchange for making good on the damages. It can go after the money that was originally due to you, because it has covered the amount already.

Why Do I Need to Know This?

For a start, if your insurance policy stipulated a deductible, it wasn't just your insurance company who had to pay. In a $10,000 accident with a $1,000 deductible, you have a stake in the outcome as well – to the tune of $1,000. If your insurer is lax about bringing subrogation cases to court, it might opt to recoup its costs by increasing your premiums and call it a day. On the other hand, if it has a knowledgeable legal team and goes after them aggressively, it is doing you a favor as well as itself. If all is recovered, you will get your full thousand-dollar deductible back. If it recovers half (for instance, in a case where you are found 50 percent responsible), you'll typically get $500 back, depending on your state laws.

In addition, if the total price of an accident is more than your maximum coverage amount, you could be in for a stiff bill. If your insurance company or its property damage lawyers, such as personal injury law firm Tacoma Wa, pursue subrogation and wins, it will recover your expenses as well as its own.

All insurance companies are not the same. When comparing, it's worth looking up the records of competing companies to find out whether they pursue winnable subrogation claims; if they resolve those claims fast; if they keep their policyholders informed as the case proceeds; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements quickly 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 protecting its bottom line by raising your premiums, you should keep looking.