Subrogation:

Subrogation is the right of an insurance company to be repaid for the benefits it has already paid out.  If an insurance company has paid $1,000 dollars for an emergency room visit and you collect $1,000 dollars for the visit, you may be required to turn over those funds back to the insurance company.  The idea is that a person should be repaid for his injury but he shouldn't profit from it.  Often, if an insurance company finds out that you are collecting for an accident, it may notify your attorney that they should be repaid and that the claim is subrogated.  The attorney then collects for you and the insurance company.  You do not pay for this.  The amount given to the insurance company has had the pro rata attorneys fees deducted from it.  

Reservation of Rights: 

Reservation of Rights is the letter that they send to you claiming that they don't know if you are covered by the insurance company or not but that they are going to look at the claim.  Often, this tactic is used to scare a person into taking a low offer.  If an insurance company is presented with a claim and they do nothing about it, they may be liable even if they had no liability.  This letter is to allow them avoid claims that they admitted that their policy covered the claim.  If you are given a reservation of rights letter by your insurance company you need to consult an attorney to see what this means for your case. 

Bad Faith: 

Bad faith is similar to the idea of unfair trade practices. Certain acts are just unfair in the accident settlement business.  These bad faith practices include trying to get you to settle for less by using the threat of criminal prosecution for making a fair claim.   The idea of bad faith can crop up in many different situations but, if your  claims adjuster is the unfair type, you need to understand that you just can't negotiate with him any longer.  You should hand the matter over to your attorney right then.   This is a person or a company that refuses to play by the rules and wants to steal from you.  Bad faith can involve fraud on the part of the insurance company including hiding evidence or destroying evidence.   Don't think that Allstate or State Farm hasn't been guilty of bad faith.  All insurance companies do it. Sometimes they get caught and sometimes they get away with it.  

Collateral Source:

The Collateral Source doctrine means that the Defendant company should pay you regardless of who has already paid for the damages.  Often an insurance company will claim that they shouldn't pay for the hospital bill because your father, employer, or insurance company has already paid for it.  If the insurance adjuster wants to put this argument on paper, give it to your attorney and you may have a good "bad faith" claim against the insurance adjuster and the insurance company.   If you can record this argument and conversation on tape, you may also be able to have a bad faith claim.  It doesn't matter who has paid for your injuries so far. The defendant must still pay.   

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