Ubezpieczonemu przysługuje odszkodowanie.

It means to the insured person or for the insured person.

More literally:

• ubezpieczony = insured / the insured person
• ubezpieczonemu = the same word in the dative singular masculine form

In this sentence, Polish uses that dative form because the verb przysługiwać normally tells you to whom something is due / belongs by right.

Also, ubezpieczony is originally an adjective, but here it is being used like a noun, meaning an insured person.

Because it is in the dative singular masculine.

The basic form is:

• ubezpieczony = insured person

But after a verb like przysługiwać, Polish uses the dative:

• ubezpieczonemu = to the insured person

This -emu ending is very common for masculine and neuter adjectives in the dative singular:

• nowy → nowemu
• chory → choremu
• ubezpieczony → ubezpieczonemu

So this is not a random change: it is a regular case ending.

Because the verb przysługiwać requires the person who receives the right, benefit, or entitlement to be in the dative.

So the structure is basically:

• komu? przysługuje odszkodowanie = to whom is compensation due?

That gives:

• ubezpieczonemu przysługuje odszkodowanie

A useful way to think about przysługiwać is:

• to be due to someone
• to be owed to someone
• to belong to someone as a right

That is why Polish does not use nominative for ubezpieczony here.

Przysługuje means something like:

• is due
• is owed
• is payable
• belongs by right
• is granted under the rules/law

In legal or official language, przysługiwać is often used for rights, claims, benefits, compensation, leave, refunds, and so on.

Examples:

• Przysługuje mu urlop. = He is entitled to leave.
• Przysługuje jej zwrot kosztów. = She is entitled to reimbursement of costs.

So in your sentence, przysługuje does not mean a physical belonging. It means someone has a legal or formal entitlement.

Because its grammatical subject is odszkodowanie, which is singular.

Polish verb agreement works with the grammatical subject, not with the person in the dative.

Here:

• odszkodowanie = compensation / damages / indemnity
• it is singular neuter
• so the verb is przysługuje = is due

Compare:

• Ubezpieczonemu przysługuje odszkodowanie. = The insured is entitled to compensation.
• Ubezpieczonemu przysługują świadczenia. = The insured is entitled to benefits.

In the second sentence, świadczenia is plural, so the verb becomes przysługują.

Because odszkodowanie is the grammatical subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative.

You can think of the sentence structurally like this:

• odszkodowanie przysługuje ubezpieczonemu

Literally:

• compensation is due to the insured person

Even though English often translates it with the person first, grammatically in Polish the thing that is due — odszkodowanie — is the subject.

Because Polish word order is flexible, and this order sounds natural in formal/legal style.

Both are possible:

• Ubezpieczonemu przysługuje odszkodowanie.
• Odszkodowanie przysługuje ubezpieczonemu.

The version with ubezpieczonemu first often puts the focus on who is entitled. It can feel like:

• As for the insured person, compensation is due

In legal and administrative Polish, putting the entitled person first is very common.

So this is not a different meaning, but a different information structure and style.

Yes. It sounds clearly formal, official, and legal/insurance-related.

A native speaker would expect this in:

• insurance documents
• regulations
• contracts
• official decisions
• legal explanations

In everyday speech, people would often say something more natural and less bureaucratic, for example:

• Ubezpieczony ma prawo do odszkodowania. = The insured person has the right to compensation.
• Ubezpieczony dostanie odszkodowanie. = The insured person will get compensation.
  This is more conversational, but not exactly the same in tone.

So przysługuje odszkodowanie is especially typical of official wording.

Yes, and it is very close in meaning.

Compare:

• Ubezpieczonemu przysługuje odszkodowanie.
• Ubezpieczony ma prawo do odszkodowania.

Both mean that the insured person is entitled to compensation.

The difference is mostly one of style:

• przysługuje = more official, legal, institutional
• ma prawo do = also formal, but often easier for learners to understand

A small grammar note:

• with przysługuje, the person is in the dative: ubezpieczonemu
• with ma prawo do, the person is the subject, so nominative: ubezpieczony

It is originally an adjective, but here it is used substantively, meaning it functions like a noun.

Literally, ubezpieczony means insured. But Polish often uses adjectives as nouns when the meaning is obvious:

• chory = sick person / patient
• ranny = injured person
• ubezpieczony = insured person

So in your sentence, ubezpieczonemu is really shorthand for something like:

• ubezpieczonemu człowiekowi
• ubezpieczonej osobie

But in normal usage, Polish simply says ubezpieczony / ubezpieczonemu.

Usually yes, but the exact English translation depends on context.

Odszkodowanie can correspond to:

• compensation
• damages
• sometimes indemnity

In insurance contexts, compensation is often the safest general translation.

But depending on the legal system and the document, English may choose a more specific term. So a translator might adjust it based on context.

For a learner, the key idea is:

• odszkodowanie = money paid for loss, damage, harm, or a covered event

Because przysługiwać does not need a preposition to express entitlement to a thing.

Its pattern is generally:

• coś przysługuje komuś
  = something is due to someone

So:

• odszkodowanie przysługuje ubezpieczonemu

By contrast, a different expression like mieć prawo do does use a preposition:

• ubezpieczony ma prawo do odszkodowania

So the two patterns are:

• przysługuje komuś coś
• ktoś ma prawo do czegoś

This is a good example of why you cannot translate Polish word-for-word from English.

Yes, przysługuje is the 3rd person singular present tense of przysługiwać.

But in Polish, just like in English, the present tense is often used for:

• general truths
• rules
• legal provisions
• definitions
• standing rights

So here it does not necessarily mean right now at this very moment. It means more:

• the insured person is entitled to compensation
• compensation is due to the insured person under the applicable rules

This is very common in legal language.

The form of ubezpieczony changes depending on gender and number.

Examples:

• Ubezpieczonej przysługuje odszkodowanie.
  = The insured woman is entitled to compensation.

• Ubezpieczonym przysługuje odszkodowanie.
  = The insured persons are entitled to compensation.

Notice that the verb may or may not change depending on what the subject is:

• if the subject is still singular odszkodowanie, then przysługuje
• if the subject becomes plural, the verb changes too:
  • Ubezpieczonym przysługują odszkodowania.

So there are two things to watch:

1. the dative form of ubezpieczony
2. whether the thing being granted is singular or plural

A learner-friendly approximation is:

• oo-behz-pyeh-CHO-neh-moo pshees-woo-GOO-yeh ot-shko-doh-VAH-nyeh

A few pronunciation tips:

• rz in przysługuje sounds like the zh sound in measure, though after p it may sound closer to sh/zh depending on speech
• sz in odszkodowanie sounds like sh
• cz sounds like ch in church
• stress in Polish is usually on the second-to-last syllable:
  • ubezpieczoNEmu
  • przysłuGUje
  • odszkodoWAnie

Polish spelling is consistent, but clusters like prz- and odszk- can take some practice.

You could translate it that way to see the structure, but it is not natural English.

A literal breakdown is useful for grammar:

• ubezpieczonemu = to the insured
• przysługuje = is due / belongs by right
• odszkodowanie = compensation

But natural English would usually be:

• The insured person is entitled to compensation
• Compensation is due to the insured person

So yes, the literal version can help you understand the Polish structure, but it should not be your final translation in normal English.