Subrogation is a concept that's well-known among legal and insurance firms but sometimes not by the policyholders they represent. Even if you've never heard the word before, it is to your advantage to understand the nuances of how it works. The more you know about it, the better decisions you can make with regard to your insurance policy.

Every insurance policy you have is an assurance that, if something bad occurs, the firm on the other end of the policy will make restitutions without unreasonable delay. If you get an injury at work, your company's workers compensation insurance picks up the tab 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 typically a heavily involved affair – and time spent waiting in some cases compounds the damage to the victim – insurance firms usually opt to pay up front and figure out the blame after the fact. They then need a means to get back the costs if, when all is said and done, they weren't actually in charge of the expense.

Can You Give an Example?

Your living room catches fire and causes $10,000 in home damages. Luckily, you have property insurance and it pays for the repairs. However, in its investigation it 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 damages. The house has already been fixed up in the name of expediency, but your insurance agency is out $10,000. What does the agency do next?

How Does Subrogation Work?

This is where subrogation comes in. It is the way that an insurance company uses to claim reimbursement 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. Usually, only you can sue for damages done to your person or property. But under subrogation law, your insurer is considered to have some of your rights in exchange 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 the Insured?

For starters, if you have a deductible, it wasn't just your insurer 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 boosting your premiums. On the other hand, if it has a proficient legal team and goes after those cases efficiently, it is acting both in its own interests and in yours. 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 50 percent at fault), you'll typically get $500 back, depending on your state laws.

Additionally, if the total expense 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 criminal law Portland, OR, successfully press a subrogation case, it will recover your expenses in addition to its own.

All insurance agencies are not created equal. When comparing, it's worth looking at the records of competing agencies to determine whether they pursue legitimate subrogation claims; if they do so fast; if they keep their accountholders apprised as the case continues; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements right away so that you can get your deductible 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 should keep looking.