Using a personal injury calculator can help you figure out how much your car accident claims are worth. Here are the top 5 questions people ask about calculating the value of their auto insurance settlement.
1. How Does the Personal Injury Calculator Determine my Car Accident Claim?
The most basic formula that is known to be used for car accident injury claims is:
Pain Multiplier X Medical Expenses + Loss of Income
The "pain multiplier" is a number typically between 1.5 and 5. This multiplier number is chosen based on the severity of your car accident injuries; the more serious your injuries, the larger the multiplier.
For example, a minor injury like a sprained neck is more likely to get a low multiplier (1.5-3). While a more serious and painful injury, like a broken leg, would get a higher multiplier (3-5). The multiplier range may even go to higher figures (10) for more severe and long term injuries.
The next thing that is included in the claims formula is your medical expenses, also known as "special damages." These expenses include the cost of your medical treatments, visits to the hospital, ambulance ride, X-Rays, pain medication etc.
The final thing that is added in your insurance settlement is your loss of income. This refers to the amount of income you lost as a result of your injuries. For example, if your injuries forced you to stay home from work, then your lost income would equal your daily pay rate times the number of work days you missed.
2. When Should You Use a Personal Injury Calculator?
The best time to use the injury calculator is at the end of your medical treatment. You should always have your injuries thoroughly diagnosed and examined before filing an injury claim. This gives you a more accurate estimate of your total medical expenses that should be included in your final settlement.
3. Who Should NOT Use the Personal Injury Calculator?
Most personal injury claims involve minor injuries that do not require you to immediately hire an expensive lawyer. For these types of claims, you should use the injury calculator to get a rough estimate of what your auto accident settlement might be worth.
However, there are insurance claims which cannot be handled without the help of a skilled injury lawyer. These types of car accident claims involve more serious and long term injuries like permanent disabilities, lost or severed limbs, traumatic head injuries etc. If you were severely injured, your best option is to meet with a lawyer who is familiar with claims related to your specific injuries.
4. How Accurate is the Personal Injury Calculator?
The injury calculator does not give you the exact final settlement, but an initial estimate of how much your injuries are worth to the insurance companies.
Many people would argue that the injury calculator is too simplistic. That it does not address the complexities and subtleties of an individual's personal injury claim. Others are quick to bring up Colossus, a sophisticated software program used by the insurance companies to evaluate insurance claims.
However, the biggest benefit of using the personal injury calculator is not to tell you what will be your specific settlement amount. The biggest benefit is to help you understand how your specific settlement amount will be calculated. The settlement calculator emphasizes that the range of your final settlement amount will be primarily based on:
- The seriousness of your injuries.
- Your total medical costs.
- Your lost income.
These are going to be a key factors in your injury settlement regardless of which specific software program you use.
5. Should I Use the Personal Injury Calculator?
You will always have the option of bringing in a lawyer further down in the claims process. The best advice is to use the settlement calculator to get a quick assessment of what your auto accident claims can be worth.