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Subrogation is a term that's understood in legal and insurance circles but rarely by the customers who hire them. Even if you've never heard the word before, it is in your self-interest to know the nuances of the process. The more you know, the better decisions you can make with regard to your insurance policy.

Every insurance policy you hold is a commitment that, if something bad happens to you, the business on the other end of the policy will make good in one way or another without unreasonable delay. If your vehicle is hit, insurance adjusters (and the courts, when necessary) decide who was at fault and that party's insurance pays out.

But since figuring out who is financially accountable for services or repairs is regularly a time-consuming affair – and delay sometimes increases the damage to the policyholder – insurance firms often opt to pay up front and figure out the blame afterward. They then need a method to recoup the costs if, in the end, they weren't responsible for the payout.

Can You Give an Example?

You rush into the emergency room with a gouged finger. You give the nurse your medical insurance card and she writes down your coverage details. You get stitches and your insurance company is billed for the expenses. But the next day, when you arrive at your place of employment – where the accident happened – you are given workers compensation paperwork to turn in. Your company's workers comp policy is actually responsible for the costs, not your medical insurance. It has a vested interest in getting that money back somehow.

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. Normally, 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 Individuals?

For starters, if you have 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 have a stake in the outcome as well – namely, $1,000. If your insurer is timid on any subrogation case it might not win, it might choose to recover its losses by ballooning your premiums. On the other hand, if it knows which cases it is owed and goes after them efficiently, it is acting both in its own interests and in yours. If all is recovered, you will get your full deductible back. If it recovers half (for instance, in a case where you are found 50 percent accountable), you'll typically get half your deductible back, based on the laws in most states.

In addition, if the total cost 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 auto accident lawyer Marietta GA, pursue subrogation and wins, it will recover your expenses in addition to its own.

All insurance companies are not created equal. When comparing, it's worth looking at the reputations of competing companies to find out if they pursue winnable subrogation claims; if they do so without dragging their feet; if they keep their customers apprised as the case goes on; and if they then process successfully won reimbursements right away so that you can get your losses back and move on with your life. If, on the other hand, an insurer has a record of honoring claims that aren't its responsibility and then covering its income by raising your premiums, you should keep looking.