Calculate Your Personal Injury Settlement Value
The financial loss you suffered due to an accident is defined as damages. Examples of damages are physical and emotional injuries, lost wages, outstanding medical bills, and out-of-pocket costs.
You cannot calculate personal injury damages on your own, which is you need to consult a qualified attorney after suffering an accident to follow a proper auto accident settlement formula. If you’re interested in learning what your personal injury attorney might be able to recover for you in compensation, input your information into our personal injury settlement calculator.
CONTACT OUR PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
Disclaimer: Use of this settlement calculator and this website is meant for informational purposes only, should not be considered legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. While this calculator will provide a quality estimate, the details and variables of each case are different, and there is no guarantee that you will receive a particular amount of compensation. Speak with one of our lawyers to obtain more information about your potential claim.
Enter Amount Here
Types of Damages
Back to TopDamages can be categorized in two ways: either economic or non-economic.
Economic Damages
Back to TopEconomic damages, also referred to as special damages, are monetary losses and expenses. Following an auto accident, a way you can calculate your damages is to weigh your:
- Medical Expenses: Your medical expenses are comprised of all treatment and diagnostic fees you accrue following your accident. This can include, but is not limited to, ambulance service, hospital bills, diagnostic charges, surgery expenses, prescription medicines, and physical therapy.
- Lost Wages: The amount of income you would have been due had you been able to work to your full potential without injury.
- Household Services: Costs associated with hiring someone to perform duties you are unable to perform in the home, such as cooking, cleaning, or taking care of children or pets. This is considered a special damage.
- Future Lost Wages: Potential income you wuld continue to earn while you heal from your injuries, and income you would earn if your injuries limit your future earning potential. This amount is determined by a jury, who will take into consideration your age, skill, profession, and life expectancy to calculate a total.
- Potential Medical Care: During trial, a medical expert is called to testify on your behalf if you’re expected to receive medical care in the future.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-Economic damages, or general damages, can best be described as damages that don’t come attached to a price tag. Emotional trauma, stress, and a loss of enjoyment in life can accompany an accident or injury; equating a monetary value to these losses is difficult, and there is no standard equation.
General damages attempt to compensate an individual for the pain they have experienced, outside of the financial losses incurred by medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs. Examples of Non-Economic damages include, but are not limited to:
- Anxiety
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of ability to participate in activities
- Trauma, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Disfigurement
- Emotional anguish
How to Price Pain and Suffering
Back to TopUnlike economic damages, non-economic damages cannot be calculated using bills to create a sum total. Therefore, there are a number of approaches that insurance companies take when quantifying pain and suffering, emotional anguish, and other general damages as part of an injury settlement. The two most common methods are the "per diem" (daily rate) method, and the multiplier method.
1. Using A Daily Rate
Back to TopThe first approach to calculating non-economic damages is called the "per diem" method, which is Latin for "per day." The idea here is to demand a specific dollar amount for each day you had to live with the trauma caused by your accident.
Identifying an amount that can be justified in court and by the insurance company can be tricky. For this reason, many people use their actual daily earnings to formulate a reasonable daily rate. The belief is that having to deal with the trauma caused by your injuries every day is at least comparable to the effort of going to work each day.
For example, if you're earning $45,000 per year at your current or most recent job, you would divide your salary by the 250 working days per year. That amounts to $180 per day. If you suffered emotional trauma for a total of five months, or roughly 150 days, you would multiply 150 by your daily rate of $180 and arrive at $27,000. This would be your non-economic damage total.
2. Multiply Your Special Damages
Back to TopTrue to its name, the multiplier method adds up all of your special (economic) damages and multiplies that amount by a number between 1.5 on the low end, and 4 or 5 on the high end. The multiplier will depend on a number of variables related to your case, including:
- The seriousness of your injuries
- The impact of your injuries on your daily life
- Your prospects for a quick and complete recovery
- Whether the other party was clearly at fault for the accident
Typically, the worse the general damages were for the victim to endure, the higher the multiplier number will be, which results in a higher overall payout. The multiplier method is most frequently used by insurance companies. As opposed to needing to settle on a daily rate, you and the defendant, or more specifically their insurer, will negotiate the most appropriate multiplier.
To find your total compensation paid, simply multiply your special damages by the multiplier you feel is fair according to the above list of variables. For instance, if your special damages amounted to $12,000 and you believe your multiplier to be 2.5, your total compensation paid would be $30,000.
Negligence
Back to Top"Negligence" refers to a failure to use reasonable care to prevent harm to others. A person is considered negligent if he or she acts differently than a reasonable person in the same situation would, whether by failing to act with a duty of care, or otherwise deviating from the accepted standard of behavior.
Take this scenario as an example: If you're enjoying a day of boating and a captain on a passing boat is trying to put on sunscreen while manning the boat, and he collides into your boat, he was acting in a negligent manner. The at-fault individual, the captain of the opposite boat, was expected to remain attentive while manning his boat. By focusing on other activities, he acted in way in which a careful boater would not. A reasonably careful individual would have kept his eyes on the water ahead, assuring the safety of his passengers and boaters sharing the water.
A Personal Injury Attorney Who Puts You First
Back to TopChances are if you’re utilizing our personal injury calculator, you’ve already experienced enough pain and suffering. To expedite the legal process and ensure you are pursuing full compensation for the physical and emotional injury you’ve been victim to, contact the law offices of Weinstein Legal.
For the personal attention you deserve, and the legal assistance you need to fight for full compensation, call 954-845-0505 for a free consultation.
Fill in the form below and we will get in touch with you to confirm your damages calculation