Appellate Practice Attorney serving New York, NY
It's not clear from your question exactly what your situation is, and there are times when an insured has different interests from his/her insurer and should retain separate counsel. However, see if this situation is like yours.
If you were insured for any part of your claims, the insurance company that paid for it is entitled to be repaid from the proceeds of your suit. This is known as "subrogation." Thus, for example, lets say you are injured and sue for damages. Part of the damages you seek is for medical expenses, part of which were paid by your health insurer. So that if you receive a judgment for $35,000 including $10,000 of medical expenses, $5,000 of which was paid by your health insurer, the insurer is entitled to be reimbursed for its $5,000 of expenses (just like you, it would not have suffered this damage except for the other party's negligent driving) out of the amount you recover. Similalrly, if you sue for damages which include $1,000 you had to pay for a replacement rental car, and part of that $1,000 was covered by your insurance, the insurance company is entitled to recover the part that it paid for which you recovered.
If you want to settle the case, you would be wise to make sure that anybody with subrogation rights signs off on the settlement and agrees with you on what portion of the recovery it will take before you conclude the settlement.
Answered on Jun 20th, 2016 at 2:01 PM