After an accident, the bills start piling up – medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage just to name a few. And if someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you’re probably wondering what your case is actually worth. Here’s how to approach the process of calculating the potential value of your case, so you can make smart decisions.
Start With the Basics: Understanding Damages
In legal terms, “damages” refers to the financial compensation you may be entitled to after an injury. The goal is to have you restored, as much as possible, to the position you were in before the accident.
“Our justice system is designed to compensate personal injury victims for any losses that they have endured,” Fanelli, Evans & Patel, P.C. explains. “This compensation is known as damages, and it is intended to make a person ‘whole’ again following an accident.”
That means the value of your case is based on what you lost, both financially and emotionally. And those losses typically fall into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Calculate Your Economic Damages
This is the part of your claim that’s easiest to tally up. These are the actual financial losses you’ve experienced (or are expected to experience) because of your injury. Some common examples include:
- Medical expenses: Hospital bills, surgeries, physical therapy, prescription medications, ongoing treatment.
- Lost income: The wages you missed while recovering, plus any lost future earnings if you can’t return to the same type of work.
- Property damage: This includes things like your vehicle, phone, or any other personal belongings damaged during the accident.
- Out-of-pocket costs: Travel to medical appointments, home modifications, medical equipment, etc.
To estimate these damages, gather every receipt, invoice, and pay stub you can find. If you’re still undergoing treatment, ask your healthcare provider for a projected timeline and expected future costs. These numbers will form the foundation of your claim, so don’t be lazy with these calculations.
Add in Non-Economic Damages
Not all damage is physical or financial. Pain, stress, trauma, and emotional suffering also matter – and you can be compensated for those, too.
Non-economic damages are harder to quantify, but they’re just as real. You might experience chronic pain that limits your daily life, depression from not being able to work or do the things you once enjoyed, or anxiety about the future.
Insurance companies often try to downplay these effects. But a skilled attorney will help you make the case for why they matter. The value of these damages is usually calculated using a multiplier method – where your economic damages are multiplied by a number based on the severity of your injury and its impact on your life.
For example, if you had $50,000 in medical bills and a serious, permanent injury, a multiplier of 3 or 4 might apply, bringing your non-economic damages to $150,000 to $200,000.
Factor in Long-Term Impacts
Your injury goes beyond just today. It can actually have long-lasting effects for years to come. Maybe you’ll need future surgeries. Maybe you can’t return to the same career. Or maybe your mobility or mental health will never fully return to what it was before the accident.
These long-term consequences aren’t always obvious right away, but they’re important when estimating your case’s full value. Future costs – medical, emotional, and occupational – need to be taken into account. Your attorney may bring in experts to help calculate them, including doctors, vocational specialists, or economists.
Don’t rush to settle before you know the full extent of your recovery. Once you accept an offer, you can’t ask for more later. Waiting until you have a clearer picture of your future can make a huge difference.
Don’t Forget About Liability
Your case’s value also depends on how clear it is that the other party was at fault. In some states, if you share any of the blame for the accident, your compensation could be reduced – or eliminated entirely.
This is where legal strategy really matters. Your attorney will work to prove that the other party was negligent and that their actions directly caused your injuries. That includes gathering police reports, witness statements, photos, surveillance footage, and expert testimony. The stronger the case for liability, the stronger your position in negotiations.
If fault is disputed or unclear, that can affect your claim’s value – but it doesn’t mean you won’t recover anything. An experienced personal injury lawyer knows how to push back and make sure your side of the story is heard.
Working With an Attorney
Yes, there are online calculators that promise to estimate your personal injury case’s value. But they rarely take into account the nuance, complexity, or strategy involved. Two cases that look nearly identical on the surface can yield wildly different outcomes depending on how they’re handled.
That’s why you need a lawyer – preferably one who focuses exclusively on personal injury cases. We recommend you begin by hiring an attorney and then work closely with them to hammer out the details of your case.