What is my case worth?

The Math Behind the Number

Most Utah case-value calculators online are black boxes — you punch in numbers, they spit out a range, and nobody explains how they got there. Here's exactly how this one works, and just as importantly, where it falls short.

The calculator uses the economic-damages multiplier model, which is the most common starting point for Utah personal injury settlements and jury verdicts. The math is a three-step stack:

1. Economic damages = medical bills + lost wages + future projected losses.
2. Pain and suffering = medical bills × a multiplier between 1.5 and 5.0. The multiplier scales with injury severity, treatment length, permanence, and recovery.
3. Impact damages = a supplemental amount for loss of enjoyment of life, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of consortium — none of which fit cleanly into the multiplier.

We then adjust for Utah's modified comparative negligence under Utah Code § 78B-5-818. If the jury (or adjuster) assigns you some percentage of fault, your recovery is reduced by that percentage. If you're 50% or more at fault, you recover nothing — this is the 50% bar rule unique to Utah. The calculator lets you dial in a fault percentage because in a real case, that number is negotiated.

Finally, the calculator displays a range — low at 75% of the midpoint, high at 125%. That's not a trick. It reflects the real variance in how Utah adjusters and Utah juries treat the same fact pattern on different days.

Utah PIP — The $3,000 Nobody Mentions

Every Utah auto policy carries mandatory Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage under Utah Code § 31A-22-307. PIP pays the first $3,000 in medical bills regardless of fault. Most of our clients don't know this exists. After a crash, PIP pays before the at-fault carrier pays a dime — and because PIP pays first, your personal injury settlement (from the at-fault carrier) is calculated on top of what PIP already covered.

That's why the calculator separates medical bills from the ultimate settlement: the medical bills you report are the total billed, not the "net after PIP." We subtract nothing. In negotiations, we always anchor the demand to the full medical expense, not the reduced figure. The PIP benefit is yours, and it doesn't reduce the at-fault carrier's obligation.

Pain and Suffering — When the Multiplier Goes High vs. Low

The pain-and-suffering multiplier is where Utah cases win or lose the most money. A multiplier of 1.5 assumes a brief soft-tissue injury that resolves in a few weeks. A multiplier of 5.0 assumes catastrophic, permanent, life-altering damage. The difference between those two multipliers on the same $40,000 medical bill is $140,000 in settlement value.

Factors that pull the multiplier up:

• Surgery — especially spinal, joint replacement, or anything with hardware
• Permanent impairment — documented by a physician with a percentage disability rating
• Scarring and disfigurement — visible, permanent, on hands, face, or neck
• Traumatic brain injury — even "mild" TBI changes a multiplier
• PTSD and diagnosed mental anguish — requires clinical documentation, not just "I've been stressed"
• Long treatment duration — 12+ months of active treatment signals a case that has not resolved
• Inability to return to prior work — vocational evidence of career impact
• Loss of consortium — spouse's claim for companionship + services

Factors that pull it down:

• Soft-tissue only, no imaging findings — carriers cite the "MIST" (Minor Impact Soft Tissue) playbook
• Short treatment window — less than 6 weeks with no surgery
• Gaps in treatment — two months between appointments suggests you felt fine
• Pre-existing injury to the same body part — carriers argue the crash didn't cause it
• Recorded statements suggesting you minimized injuries — saying "I'm fine" to the adjuster on day three costs money on day three hundred

Good documentation is the cheapest multiplier lift available. Photograph bruising every three days. Keep a pain journal. Attend every physical therapy session your doctor recommends. Follow the treatment plan. The carriers and juries both reward consistency.

Property Damage — The Claim Most Lawyers Forget

The calculator asks for your vehicle's pre-crash market value because in Utah, your property damage claim is a separate cause of action from your bodily injury claim. Most PI firms ignore it or hand it off. LawyerUp doesn't — we handle both together through Property Damage Pros, part of the LawyerUp Injury Group.

A property damage claim typically includes:

• Repair cost or total-loss ACV — actual cash value of the vehicle if it's totaled
• Diminished value — the $3,000 to $8,000 your car lost simply because it now has a wreck in its Carfax, even after a perfect repair
• Rental car — while you're without a vehicle, up to the policy limit or the time a reasonable repair takes
• Loss of use — compensation if you can't get a rental, or if the rental isn't equivalent to what was wrecked
• Personal property — items destroyed in the vehicle (child seats, tools, personal effects)

The average dual-claim file (injury + property damage handled together) recovers an extra $3,800 to $14,200 compared to an injury-only file. That's a direct uplift for the client, not a speculative number. This is why we built the firm around dual-claim handling. See the dual-claim explainer for the full picture.

Why Carrier First-Offers Are Almost Always Low

Insurance adjusters have a trained playbook. The first offer is almost never the adjuster's best number — it's a test. Here's how that test works, carrier by carrier:

• State Farm — first offer typically comes in at 40–55% of where the case actually settles after a Utah demand letter with full documentation. Their Colossus-style internal tool undervalues soft-tissue and discounts aggressively for "pre-existing" anywhere on the medical record.
• Progressive — aggressive with "percentage of medical bills" formulas that don't reflect Utah case law. First offers often cluster at 1.5× medical bills even when the case warrants 3× or higher. Known for the minor-impact-soft-tissue defense.
• Geico — the most formulaic adjusters. They open at 40–50% of fair value and wait for the claimant to walk away. Represented claimants get treated very differently than unrepresented ones.
• Allstate — the good hands / boxing gloves firm. Offers are low, and they push to close cases within 60 days with heavy "full and final release" pressure. Do not sign before a lawyer reviews.
• USAA — generally the most reasonable carrier but not immune. Cost-containment software underpays even member claims; member loyalty isn't a case-value multiplier.
• Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide — moderate-aggressive, each with different internal formulas but all trained to undervalue.

The represented multiplier is real. Insurance industry data (Insurance Research Council) shows claimants with legal representation settle for 3 to 3.5 times the amount claimants without lawyers recover, net of fees. That's not LawyerUp's number — that's the industry's own number.

What This Calculator Can't Account For

Good calculators are honest about their limits. Here are the things that can move your real case value dramatically up or down, none of which this calculator captures:

• Policy limits — Utah's minimum PD liability is only $25,000 under § 31A-22-304(2)(a)(iii) and minimum bodily injury is $25,000/$65,000 per person/accident. If the at-fault driver only carries the state minimum and your damages are larger, the case may be capped regardless of how bad the injury is. Your own UM/UIM under § 31A-22-305 becomes critical here.
• Umbrella policies — a commercial defendant (rideshare, trucking, commercial vehicle) typically carries $1M–$25M in coverage, orders of magnitude above personal lines. Case value against a commercial defendant is often limited by damages, not coverage.
• Permanent impairment rating — a 10% permanent impairment rating from a physician changes the case geometry entirely. The calculator treats "severe" as a multiplier input but a written impairment rating is dispositive.
• Liability dispute — if the other side claims you caused the crash, your recovery can be reduced by your fault percentage or eliminated entirely if you cross the 50% bar.
• Defendant identity — suing an individual vs. a trucking company vs. a government entity vs. a hospital changes everything about the venue, the insurance structure, the discovery process, and the settlement dynamics.
• Bad faith exposure — if the carrier violates Utah's Unfair Claims Practices Act (§ 31A-26-303) or fails the Beck-v.-Farmers duty of good faith, your case may add a separate cause of action with extracontractual damages.
• Punitive damages — for willful or reckless conduct (DUI, known safety violations), § 78B-8-201 authorizes punitive awards on top of compensatory damages.
• Pre-existing conditions — the eggshell plaintiff rule protects claimants with prior injuries (the tortfeasor takes you as they find you), but carriers still litigate hard around causation.
• Catastrophic injury trajectory — spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and amputation cases typically escape the multiplier model entirely and require life-care plans, vocational experts, and economic projections measured over decades, not months.

How to Get a Tighter Estimate — Call, Don't Calculate

The most honest thing to say about case-value calculators is this: they exist to give you a rough framework for whether the case is worth pursuing. The number you see above is a starting frame, not a final answer. In a 20-minute free consultation, Brad can give you a much tighter range — because he's actually looking at your medical records, your insurance policy, the fault picture, the carrier, and whether Utah law opens any bad-faith or punitive exposure.

There's no bill, no sales pressure, and no obligation. If the case has legs, we'll explain exactly how we'd proceed. If it doesn't — and some cases don't — we'll tell you that too and refer you somewhere useful. Call (866) 264-2638 any time. Brad takes the call personally.