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Subrogation is a concept that's understood in legal and insurance circles but sometimes not by the customers who employ them. Even if it sounds complicated, it would be in your benefit to comprehend the steps of the process. The more information you have, the more likely an insurance lawsuit will work out in your favor.

Every insurance policy you hold is a commitment that, if something bad happens to you, the insurer of the policy will make good in a timely manner. If you get hurt while you're on the clock, for example, your employer's workers compensation pays out for medical services. Employment lawyers handle the details; you just get fixed up.

But since ascertaining who is financially accountable for services or repairs is regularly a confusing affair – and time spent waiting in some cases adds to the damage to the policyholder – insurance companies often decide to pay up front and figure out the blame later. They then need a path to recoup the costs if, ultimately, they weren't responsible for the payout.

For Example

You are in an auto accident. Another car collided with yours. Police are called, you exchange insurance details, and you go on your way. You have comprehensive insurance that pays for the repairs right away. Later police tell the insurance companies that the other driver was at fault and her insurance should have paid for the repair of your auto. How does your insurance company get its funds back?

How Does Subrogation Work?

This is where subrogation comes in. It is the process that an insurance company uses to claim payment when it pays out a claim that turned out not to be its responsibility. Some companies 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 insurer is extended 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 Should I Care?

For one thing, if your insurance policy stipulated a deductible, it wasn't just your insurer that had to pay. In a $10,000 accident with a $1,000 deductible, you lost some money too – to be precise, $1,000. If your insurer is lax about bringing subrogation cases to court, it might opt to recover its costs by raising your premiums and call it a day. 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.

Moreover, if the total expense of an accident is over your maximum coverage amount, you may have had to pay the difference. If your insurance company or its property damage lawyers, such as work injury lawyer whitewater wi, successfully press a subrogation case, it will recover your costs in addition to its own.

All insurers are not the same. When shopping around, it's worth researching the records of competing companies to evaluate whether they pursue winnable subrogation claims; if they resolve those claims without dragging their feet; if they keep their clients apprised as the case continues; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements immediately so that you can get your deductible back and move on with your life. If, on the other hand, an insurer has a reputation of paying out claims that aren't its responsibility and then safeguarding its bottom line by raising your premiums, you'll feel the sting later.