Subrogation is an idea that's well-known in legal and insurance circles but rarely by the people they represent. Rather than leave it to the professionals, it is in your benefit to understand the steps of how it works. The more information you have, the more likely it is that an insurance lawsuit will work out in your favor.
Every insurance policy you hold is an assurance that, if something bad occurs, the firm that insures the policy will make restitutions in a timely manner. If your vehicle is in a fender-bender, insurance adjusters (and the courts, when necessary) decide who was at fault and that person's insurance pays out.
But since ascertaining who is financially responsible for services or repairs is typically a tedious, lengthy affair – and time spent waiting often compounds the damage to the victim – insurance firms in many cases decide to pay up front and assign blame afterward. They then need a means to recoup the costs if, ultimately, they weren't responsible for the expense.
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 information, 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 at fault and her insurance policy should have paid for the repair of your car. How does your company get its money back?
How Does Subrogation Work?
This is where subrogation comes in. It is the method 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. Under ordinary circumstances, 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 in exchange for making good on the damages. It can go after the money originally due to you, because it has covered the amount already.
How Does This Affect the Insured?
For one thing, if your insurance policy stipulated 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 lax about bringing subrogation cases to court, it might opt to recover its costs by raising your premiums. On the other hand, if it knows which cases it is owed and pursues them enthusiastically, it is acting both in its own interests and in yours. If all $10,000 is recovered, you will get your full $1,000 deductible back. If it recovers half (for instance, in a case where you are found one-half at fault), you'll typically get half your deductible back, depending on your state laws.
In addition, if the total price 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 attorneys Puyallup WA, pursue subrogation and wins, it will recover your costs as well as its own.
All insurance companies are not created equal. When shopping around, it's worth scrutinizing the records of competing companies to find out if they pursue valid subrogation claims; if they do so quickly; if they keep their customers apprised as the case goes on; 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 safeguarding its profitability by raising your premiums, you'll feel the sting later.