What is Subrogation?
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!
