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Car Accident Settlement Calculator — estimate what your claim is worth
Enter your medical bills, your lost wages and your state, and see the range a crash claim with your numbers is argued for. It is built on the multiplier and per-diem methods insurers use themselves, with your state's fault rule applied for you — so a low first offer does not look reasonable just because it is the first number you hear.
Enter your medical bills, future medical costs, lost wages and property damage, choose the multiplier or per-diem method for pain and suffering, then set your state and your share of fault. The tool returns an estimated settlement range adjusted for your state's comparative-negligence rule.
What this estimates. A car accident settlement combines economic damages — medical bills, lost wages and property damage — with non-economic damages for pain & suffering. The first part comes off your paperwork. The second is where an insurer has room to move, and where your state's comparative-negligence rule and your share of fault can shift the total more than the injury itself does.
It works the same whether you call it an auto accident, a car crash or a car wreck.
See also: If the crash left you with numbness, tingling or weakness in a limb, the nerve damage settlement calculator scales the range to permanence instead of to your bills.
Real data
Average car accident settlement amount
There is no official national "average" — figures vary by source and method. In a Martindale-Nolo reader survey, the median payout across all car-accident claims was about $8,200, while the average among claims involving a physical injury was about $29,700. Most settlements are modest; a few catastrophic cases pull the mean up.
Sources: Martindale-Nolo reader survey (self-reported, not a controlled study) and U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Your case can differ widely — use the calculator above for a range based on your numbers.
The method
How car accident settlements are calculated
Settlements add up your hard costs, estimate pain & suffering with a multiplier (or per-diem), then adjust for fault. Each factor with a worked example.
Medical bills
Emergency care, hospital, imaging, surgery, therapy — past and reasonably certain future treatment.
Lost wages & future income
Time off work, plus reduced earning capacity if the injury limits what you can do going forward.
Pain & suffering
Non-economic harm. A multiplier (1.5–5× medical costs) or a per-diem daily rate × recovery days.
Liability & comparative fault
Your share of fault reduces the award. In contributory-negligence states even 1% can bar recovery.
Property & vehicle damage
Repair or total-loss value of your vehicle and other damaged property is added to economic damages.
Adjust for your state
How your state's fault rule changes a car accident payout
Each state assigns fault differently, and it can swing your payout to zero. Our calculator applies your state's rule automatically — here is what the four systems mean and where they apply.
Recover even if mostly at fault; your award is cut by your %. e.g. California, Washington, New York.
No recovery if you are 50% or more at fault. e.g. Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee.
No recovery if you are 51% or more at fault. e.g. Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania.
Any fault at all can bar recovery. Only AL, MD, NC, VA & DC.
Where the ten largest states sit: California, New York and Washington apply pure comparative fault, so a share of blame cuts the total but never bars it. Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida — Florida since its 2023 reform — bar recovery at 51% or more. Georgia bars it at 50%. North Carolina and Virginia are contributory-negligence states where any share of fault at all can end the claim. Set your state in the calculator and it applies the right one for you.
Questions
Car accident settlement FAQ
It depends on your economic damages, injury severity and state fault rules. Minor soft-tissue cases settle in the low five figures; serious or permanent injuries reach six or seven. Run the calculator for your range.
Most states allow two to three years from the crash date; a few range from one to six, and a claim against a public body can run far shorter. A missed deadline normally ends the claim, so the deadline that applies where you live is the first thing worth confirming.
Clear-liability claims can settle in weeks to a few months once you reach maximum medical improvement; disputed or serious cases take a year or more.
In most states your payout drops by your fault percentage; in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and DC any fault can bar recovery. The tool adjusts for this.
Usually not. Adjusters generally open below what they are authorised to pay, and consumer guidance published by state insurance departments routinely describes a first offer as a starting point rather than a conclusion. What you do with that is your call and turns on facts we cannot see. What a range gives you is a reference point instead of a blank page.
Check the two things that move a crash claim most
Before you use a range in a conversation with an adjuster, make sure your future medical costs are in it — the most commonly forgotten input — and that you have your state's fault rule right. Then compare any offer against the low end of your range, not the high end. No contact details are asked for at any point.
Open the calculator