Subrogation is an idea that's understood in insurance and legal circles but often not by the policyholders who employ them. Even if you've never heard the word before, it is to your advantage to understand an overview of the process. The more you know, the more likely it is that an insurance lawsuit will work out favorably.
An insurance policy you hold is a promise that, if something bad happens to you, the insurer of the policy will make restitutions in a timely fashion. If your house is robbed, for example, your property insurance steps in to pay you or enable the repairs, subject to state property damage laws.
But since determining who is financially accountable for services or repairs is often a confusing affair – and time spent waiting often compounds the damage to the policyholder – insurance firms in many cases opt to pay up front and figure out the blame after the fact. They then need a path to recover the costs if, ultimately, they weren't responsible for the payout.
Can You Give an Example?
Your living room catches fire and causes $10,000 in house damages. Luckily, you have property insurance and it takes care of the repair expenses. However, the assessor assigned to your case finds out that an electrician had installed some faulty wiring, and there is a reasonable possibility that a judge would find him liable for the loss. The house has already been repaired in the name of expediency, but your insurance company is out all that money. What does the company do next?
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 insurance firms have in-house property damage lawyers and personal injury attorneys, or a department dedicated to subrogation; others contract with a law firm. Normally, only you can sue for damages done to your self or property. But under subrogation law, your insurance company is extended some of your rights for making good on 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 who 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 timid on any subrogation case it might not win, it might opt to recover its expenses by increasing your premiums. On the other hand, if it has a proficient legal team and goes after those cases efficiently, it is doing you a favor as well as itself. If all of the money 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 responsible), you'll typically get $500 back, depending on your state laws.
Furthermore, if the total price of an accident is over your maximum coverage amount, you could be in for a stiff bill. If your insurance company or its property damage lawyers, such as Attorney at law Tumwater, WA, successfully press a subrogation case, it will recover your losses in addition to its own.
All insurers are not the same. When comparing, it's worth contrasting the records of competing agencies to find out if they pursue legitimate subrogation claims; if they resolve those claims fast; if they keep their customers apprised as the case proceeds; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements right away so that you can get your funding back and move on with your life. If, instead, an insurance agency has a reputation of paying out claims that aren't its responsibility and then safeguarding its profit margin by raising your premiums, even attractive rates won't outweigh the eventual headache.