Updated July 2, 2026
How does InjuryCalcTools calculate an injury claim estimate?
Every InjuryCalcTools calculator adds documented economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, property damage) to a pain-and-suffering figure found by multiplying medical bills by a severity factor between 1.5x and 5x, then subtracts a 33% contingency fee if you say you are using an attorney. That is a disclosed estimation convention built into this site's own tools, not a government table or a survey of what any court or insurer actually paid. Below is the full constant set, where each number is used, and how it differs from a claim of real average settlements.
| Constant | Value | Used in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiplier, minor injury | 1.5× | Injury Claim, Car Accident, Pain & Suffering, Slip & Fall | Bruising, mild whiplash, short recovery |
| Multiplier, moderate injury | 2.5× | same four calculators | Herniated disc, fracture, months of treatment |
| Multiplier, serious injury | 3.5× | same four calculators | Multiple fractures, ligament tears |
| Multiplier, severe injury | 4.5× | same four calculators | Permanent impairment, extensive treatment |
| Multiplier, catastrophic injury | 5× (site ceiling) | same four calculators | Spinal cord injury, TBI, permanent disability |
| Per-diem daily rate | user-entered | Pain & Suffering Calculator, per-diem mode | No default rate is assigned; you supply your own |
| Attorney contingency fee | 33% | Injury Claim, Car Accident, Slip & Fall | Flat rate, applied only if "using an attorney" is set to yes |
| Fault reduction | × (1 - fault%) | Slip & Fall Settlement Calculator | You enter your own estimated fault percentage |
Download the full table as a CSV: injury-claim-calculation-reference-2026.csv.
Why this page does not list "average settlement" dollar amounts
Most personal injury claims settle privately and confidentially, so no government agency or court system publishes a comprehensive, verifiable national dataset of actual settlement values by injury type. Figures that circulate as "average settlements" online are almost always drawn from a single law firm's closed cases or from marketing copy, and we could not verify any of them against a named, dated primary source this session. Rather than repeat an unsourced number, this page documents the one thing we can verify without qualification: the constants our own calculators use, and exactly how they are applied.
Worked example
$18,000 in medical bills, $6,000 in lost wages, a moderate injury (2.5×), with an attorney at the 33% default: pain and suffering is $18,000 × 2.5 = $45,000. Economic damages are $18,000 + $6,000 = $24,000. The pre-fee total is $24,000 + $45,000 = $69,000. The contingency fee is $69,000 × 0.33 = $22,770, leaving an estimated net of $46,230. Run your own numbers on the Injury Claim Calculator.
Methodology
Every constant above is read directly from the JavaScript in this site's five live calculators (Injury Claim, Car Accident Settlement, Pain & Suffering, Lost Wages, and Slip & Fall Settlement); we did not estimate or round them for this page. The 1.5x-to-5x multiplier band and the roughly one-third contingency fee are both widely documented conventions in consumer legal-reference writing, including Nolo/AllLaw's overview of the pain-and-suffering multiplier and the Maryland People's Law Library's explainer on personal injury attorney fees (both accessed July 2026); we cite them here as evidence the convention is standard, not as a source for any specific dollar figure. This page is reviewed whenever a calculator's constants change; the table above reflects the live tools as of the "Updated" date at the top of this page.
Limits of this reference
These constants describe how this site's tools compute an estimate. They are not predictions, they are not legal advice, and they do not reflect what any specific insurer, jury, or court will do with your case. Many states cap non-economic damages by statute, which can override any multiplier or per-diem result. Actual outcomes depend on liability, evidence, venue, insurance limits, and negotiation, none of which a formula can see. Talk to a licensed personal injury attorney about your specific facts; many offer a free initial consultation.
Cite this page
InjuryCalcTools, "2026 Injury Claim Calculation Reference," injurycalctools.com/injury-claim-calculation-reference-2026, accessed 2026. The underlying table is available as a CSV download for reuse with attribution.
Run your own numbers
Plug your bills, wages, and severity into the calculator and see every constant above applied live.