Personal injury calculators are internet tools that attempt to estimate the worth of your settlement in the case of an accident. They operate by requesting you to provide information such as medical bills, wages lost, and the nature of the injury.
When deciding how much a personal injury settlement can be, these tools can provide you with a rough estimate of the amount of your claim. But as much as they appear helpful, they are not accurate. They cannot substitute the experience of a professional attorney or the attentive examination of the facts of your case.
How Do Injury Calculators Work?
The majority of injury calculators follow a formula. They take your economic losses, like medical bills and lost wages, and then they use a multiplier to estimate your non-economic losses, like pain and suffering. For example, assuming you had medical bills of $20,000 and the calculator uses a multiplier of three, your settlement amount would be around $60,000.
A Nolo research found that the average personal injury settlement is approximately $52,900, although the results vary between $3,000 and $75,000 depending on the case. This broad gap reveals why calculators can at best only give rough estimates and not accurate predictions. They tend to be based on average figures and common rules, rather than the specific conditions of your injury.
Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Personal Injury Calculators
They Oversimplify Complex Cases
Personal injury cases are characterized by numerous moving components, including liability issues, insurance coverage, and laws that depend on the state. These are complex details that cannot be analyzed in an online calculator. In a case in point, when your accident is caused by more than one individual, your settlement will be based on the distribution of the fault—something that cannot be quantified by a formula.
They Fail to Account for Long-Term Impacts
The effect of injuries may take months or even years. The calculator might not cover future medical care, continuing treatment, or lost income in case you are unable to resume a former job. Such costs in the long term can boost your claim significantly.
They Don’t Consider Liability Issues
Liability is one of the largest determinants in any settlement. Shared responsibility cannot be evaluated by calculators. Under comparative negligence laws, the final settlement amount can be less than it would be had you not been responsible in part for an accident, which most calculators do not take into account.
They Lack Personalization
Your pain, suffering, and lifestyle modifications are unique. There is no generic formula that can be used to show the extent to which your injury has impacted your relationships, your work potential, or your quality of life. The settlements often do rely heavily on these human factors.
They Do Not Take into Account the Legal Fees and Costs.
A calculator will often ignore attorney fees and other costs of law, even when it is able to provide you with an estimate. These costs tend to decrease the settlements in real cases. The calculator gives you a false impression of what you will actually receive without considering them.
Final Thoughts
Personal injury calculators may be a starting point, but they are not a tool that can be trusted to make the right decision on the value of your claim. Real settlements are based on numerous variables, such as liability, future costs, pain and suffering, and the ability of your attorney.
Key Takeaways
- The injury calculators rely on simple formulas but disregard the key details of a case.
- They do not cover long-term medical requirements or liability factors.
- The only person who could provide you with a personal and correct estimate is an experienced attorney.
Calculators should be used as a guide, not as a rule, when dealing with a personal injury case. To have an actual assessment of what you claim, it is best to consult a professional attorney.
