Read this before you use the number
This is a rough heuristic, not a valuation. Insurers do not calculate offers this way, and no two claims with identical bills settle for the same amount. Treat the output as a way to sanity-check an offer or frame a question — never as a target you should hold out for.
How this calculator works
It uses the multiplier method, the oldest and bluntest way of putting a number on a personal injury claim. Damages get split into two parts:
- Economic damages — things with a receipt. Medical bills past and future, lost wages, lost earning capacity. These are added directly.
- Non-economic damages — pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment. There is no receipt, so the method estimates them as a multiple of medical costs.
The calculation is:
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Economic damages = medical bills + future medical + lost wages |
| 2 | Pain & suffering = (medical bills + future medical) × multiplier |
| 3 | Range = economic + P&S at the low and high end of the multiplier band |
| 4 | Whole range is reduced by your percentage of fault |
Why severity changes the multiplier
A sprain that resolves in six weeks and a spinal injury that ends a career can generate similar bills in the first three months, but they are not worth the same. The severity selector moves the multiplier band: roughly 1–2× for minor injuries, up to 4–6× where impairment is permanent. Cases involving catastrophic injury or death routinely fall outside any multiplier band, and this tool will understate them.
Comparative fault in California
California applies pure comparative fault. If you are found 30% responsible, you recover 70% — and unlike some states, even 90% fault does not bar you completely. Fault percentage is usually the single most contested number in a claim, and an adjuster's first assessment of it is an opening position, not a finding.
What this calculator ignores
- Insurance policy limits. The most common reason a strong claim settles low is that the at-fault driver carried minimum coverage. A $300,000 claim against a $15,000 policy is usually a $15,000 claim.
- Liability disputes. If fault is genuinely contested, the practical value drops sharply regardless of the medical numbers.
- Treatment gaps. Long unexplained gaps between the incident and treatment are the single most effective argument an adjuster has.
- Venue and jury pool. Identical facts value differently across LA County courthouses.
- Liens. Health insurers, Medi-Cal and medical providers on lien all take a share before you see anything.