Tag Archive for: personal injury claim

What is Subrogation?

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If you find yourself injured, it may be necessary to go to the hospital or to seek treatment for the injuries sustained. Often times, bills are submitted to your insurance company following medical treatment. However, after paying (or even sometimes before you pay), your insurer may contact you, asking for more details about your injury and how it occurred. In these cases, an insurer is likely trying to determine who is at fault for the injuries. In cases where a third party is entirely or partially responsible for the injury, the third party may be responsible for paying for your injuries. By determining the situation, the insurance company is determining if they can conduct subrogation. Subrogation  involves insurance covering your costs initially, but being reimbursed by the party truly responsible for your injuries.

Defining Subrogation

For injury claim cases, the responsible party for the injury may be responsible for paying for all or some of the damage caused by the injury. Subrogation then occurs when an insurance company stands in for the injured party.

This occurs to prevent situations where the injured party receives greater compensation for their injury than is necessary. For example, you may become injured due to an accident and require medical care. You submit the bill to your insurance company, who pays the $10,000 for your treatment. However, the party that was at fault for your injuries and pays the $10,000 amount for your treatment as well.

Subrogation handles this difference. Your insurance company will then receive the responsible party’s payment of $10,000.

How Subrogation Works

Whenever your medical provider lists the care that you’ve received as a result of an accident or injury, the insurer will often seek more information from you about the treatment and injury. This information is used to determine if it’s possible that another party may be financially responsible for your care.

Most insurance policies require you to fully cooperate with any subrogation attempts. This means you are forbidden from signing waivers or agreements absolving the other driver of financial responsibility for your injuries if he is found to be at fault for the accident.

How Subrogation Affects Your Personal Injury Claim

Keeping careful track of your accident-related expenses is very important to your case. However, understanding what subrogation is and how subrogation interests work can be complicated. It is important to avoid mistakes that can cost you money. Often, it’s best to seek assistance from an attorney with experience in personal injury law and the complications that subrogation issues can present when negotiating a fair settlement for your injuries. At Greene & Phillips, we have been handling injury cases for over 20 years and have an entire department committed to subrogation.

If you are offered a settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurance company, sometimes this offer may be less than your case is worth. To protect yourself, it’s best to have your attorney review any documents insurance companies send to you before you sign it.

If you have been injured, call Greene & Phillips as soon as you possibly can at 1-888-510-1020, or fill out our free case evaluation. You can also come by our office at your convenience!

Handling Your Case During Coronavirus

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At Greene & Phillips, the safety of our clients, staff, and vendors have been, and always will be top priority. As our nation faces the coronavirus, it is important that we all understand the best ways to stay healthy. We have compiled a list from resources such as the Red Cross, the CDC, and other top medical and media outlets in order to educate and best prepare you as we continue to face coronavirus.

Here are some useful, practical tips for stopping the spread of COVID-19:

Practice social distancing by keeping at least 6 feet away from others if you must go out in public. Stay connected with loved ones through video and phone calls, texts and social media. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Good examples of social distancing include taking a walk around the neighborhood, doing some yard work, reading a book inside, calling your friends, or FaceTiming your family. Bad examples of social distancing include having visitors outside of your immediate family, attending any large gathering, using mass transit, or having sleepovers.

Handwashing is one of the most effective ways to guard against the coronavirus. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after being in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Did you know that the average person touches their face nearly 15 times per hour? Limiting contact between your face and hands is a major part of keeping the virus out of your nose and mouth.

Clean and disinfect household surfaces daily and high-touch surfaces frequently throughout the day. High-touch surfaces include phones, remote controls, counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, keyboards, tablets and bedside tables. There is research that suggests that the virus can persist for even a few days on some surfaces, so cleaning surfaces regularly should be a priority.

Keep a set of disinfectant wipes or a bottle of hand sanitizer in your car. This will allow you to quickly sanitize your hands after visiting the grocery store or other location where your hands may have become dirty. Frequently wipe down surfaces in your car such as your steering wheel or door handles.

If you go to the grocery store, consider wearing a pair of gloves or disinfecting your shopping cart with wipes. Be sure to immediately wash your hands both when you arrive home and after you have put all of your groceries away.

If receiving deliveries such as packages or food, consider unboxing the food or item outside your house. Do not take packaging into your house, as it may have traces of the virus still present on its surface.

What We Are Doing at Greene & Phillips

We understand that car accidents and other injury events do not practice social distancing. Even during a pandemic, people are injured daily and need help. Greene & Phillips remains open during this time to continue to serve both new and existing clients. In order to effectively and safely serve our clients, we are taking the following measures:

Our office is utilizing every digital method available to us to handle as many aspects of a case digitally as possible. This includes obtaining digital signatures, sending pictures of documents, and meeting with clients using platforms such as Zoom or FaceTime.

When clients do visit our office, we are able to meet them where they are with curbside service for document drop-off, pickup, and signatures.

Each of our attorneys and staff members have access to disinfectants, hand sanitizer, and gloves to keep our clients safe when personal interactions do occur.

By utilizing the power of the internet and the ingenuity of our amazing staff at Greene & Phillips, we are able to ensure that your case never misses a beat.

If you have been injured, we are still available to help. Give our office a call at (251) 478-1115 to speak with someone about your case.

If you own a business, your business insurance may include a Business Interruption policy. If your business has been affected by the coronavirus and you want to speak with an attorney regarding Business Interruption Insurance, give us a call at (251) 478-1115.