Negotiating Tactics Help Curb Losses In Subrogation

Simple but sometimes overlooked negotiating skills can help reduces losses for insurers and other payers that go to subrogation, a pair of subrogation experts said.

By adhering to strategies such as always making a settlement demand and building relationships with other claims professionals, insurers and third-party administrators can offset losses with contributions from other entities involved in workers compensation, auto and other liability claims, they said Wednesday during a session at the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s Riskworld conference in Atlanta.

Lawyers and other claims professionals should think like a plaintiffs attorney when they are involved in subrogation work, said Ashton T. Kirsch, a Hartford, Wisconsin-based shareholder at subrogation law firm Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer S.C.

‘In plaintiffs work and subro work we’re about building a narrative, creating a story,’ he said. ‘We need to think creative creatively.’