Subrogation is a concept that's well-known in insurance and legal circles but sometimes not by the policyholders who employ them. Even if it sounds complicated, it would be in your self-interest to know the steps of the process. The more you know, the better decisions you can make with regard to your insurance policy.

An insurance policy you hold is an assurance that, if something bad occurs, the insurer of the policy will make good in a timely fashion. If you get hurt while you're on the clock, for example, your employer's workers compensation insurance 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 often a tedious, lengthy affair – and delay often adds to the damage to the policyholder – insurance companies usually decide to pay up front and assign blame after the fact. They then need a way to recoup the costs if, ultimately, they weren't in charge of the expense.

For Example

You go to the doctor's office with a sliced-open finger. You hand the nurse your health insurance card and she takes down your coverage details. You get stitched up and your insurance company gets an invoice for the tab. But on the following day, when you get to your workplace – where the accident occurred – your boss hands you workers compensation paperwork to turn in. Your workers comp policy is in fact responsible for the bill, not your health insurance. It has a vested interest in getting that money back in some way.

How Subrogation Works

This is where subrogation comes in. It is the way that an insurance company uses to claim reimbursement 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. Ordinarily, only you can sue for damages done to your self or property. But under subrogation law, your insurance company is considered to have some of your rights for having taken care of the damages. It can go after the money that was originally due to you, because it has covered the amount already.

How Does This Affect Policyholders?

For one thing, if you have a deductible, it wasn't just your insurance company 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 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 enthusiastically, it is acting both in its own interests and in yours. If all ten grand is recovered, you will get your full $1,000 deductible back. If it recovers half (for instance, in a case where you are found 50 percent at fault), you'll typically get half your deductible back, depending on your state laws.

In addition, if the total expense 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 Attorney for Truck Accidents Smyrna GA, pursue subrogation and wins, it will recover your expenses as well as its own.

All insurance agencies are not the same. When comparing, it's worth looking at the records of competing firms to determine whether they pursue valid subrogation claims; if they do so without dragging their feet; if they keep their accountholders updated as the case goes on; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements quickly so that you can get your money back and move on with your life. If, on the other hand, an insurance agency has a record of honoring claims that aren't its responsibility and then safeguarding its income by raising your premiums, you should keep looking.

Attorney for Truck Accidents Smyrna GA