Insurance & settlement calculators
Insurance math is deliberately opaque: an adjuster works from documented damages and a multiplier, and the number they say out loud is never the number they computed. These tools rebuild that arithmetic in the open, and the table below publishes the multipliers behind it.
Calculators in this cluster
Estimate gross settlement, attorney fee, liens, and your net take-home.
Run it17c formula estimate for the resale value your repaired car lost.
Run itLost financial support, services, and non-economic damages, present valued.
Run itDocument past and future income loss for an injury or disability claim.
Run itPermanent partial disability value plus future medical, net of fees.
Run itWhat a buyer pays today for your future settlement payments.
Run itDIME method coverage target minus what you already have.
Run itProject years of care at real inflation and see the funding gap.
Run itMonthly income a premium buys, and how long before you break even.
Run itSee which income bracket you land in and what the surcharge costs.
Run itCitable reference tables
These are the exact numbers the calculators above default to. Updated 2026-09-04. Free to quote, republish, or feed to an AI assistant under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to RevenueLab.fyi.
Settlement and payout benchmarks, 2026
Multiples apply to documented economic damages — medical bills plus lost wages — unless the basis column says otherwise.
| Scenario | Basis | Low | Typical | High | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft-tissue injury, full recovery | × economic damages | 1.0× | 1.5× | 2.0× | Most whiplash and sprain claims settle here; adjusters resist above 2×. |
| Fracture or surgery, full recovery | × economic damages | 2.0× | 3.0× | 4.0× | Objective imaging and a surgical record move the multiplier more than pain reports. |
| Permanent impairment | × economic damages | 3.5× | 5.0× | 8.0× | Workers' comp instead uses a state schedule of weeks per body part. |
| Wrongful death | Lifetime earnings + services + companionship | 1.0× | 2.0× | 4.0× | Driven by decedent age, dependents and earnings, not by medical bills. |
| Diminished value after a repaired collision | % of pre-loss value | 5% | 10% | 25% | 17c formula caps the base at 10% of value before damage and mileage modifiers. |
| Attorney contingency fee | % of gross settlement | 25% | 33% | 40% | 33⅓% pre-suit is standard; the higher tier applies once litigation is filed. |
| Life insurance coverage need | × gross annual income | 5× | 10× | 15× | The multiple is a shortcut; needs-based math (debts + income years) beats it. |
| Structured settlement discount | Effective discount rate on a lump-sum buyout | 8% | 12% | 18% | Buyout companies quote a price, not a rate — back out the rate before signing. |
Worked example: $9,000 in medical bills and $3,000 in lost wages on a fracture claim gives $12,000 × 3.0 = $36,000 gross, roughly $24,000 net after a 33⅓% fee.
Cite this data
Machine-readable version, same numbers, no key required:
https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/settlement-benchmarks.jsonSuggested citation:
RevenueLab — US settlement and insurance payout benchmarks 2026 (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/insurance-settlement-calculators), updated 2026-09-04.Licensed CC BY 4.0 with attribution to RevenueLab.fyi. Planning estimates for budgeting and quote-checking — not quotes, legal advice, or lending offers.
Questions people ask
How is a settlement amount actually calculated?
Adjusters start with economic damages you can document — medical bills, future treatment, and lost wages — then apply a multiplier for pain and suffering based on injury severity and objective evidence. The multiplier table below is the band most claims land inside; imaging, surgery and permanent impairment move it up far more than pain descriptions do.
Do these estimators replace a lawyer?
No. They tell you whether an offer is inside the normal band before you accept it, which is the single most useful thing to know in a first conversation. Anything involving permanent injury, disputed liability, or a policy limit dispute belongs with an attorney.
What does the attorney take?
Contingency fees run 33⅓% of gross pre-suit and step up to about 40% once a lawsuit is filed. Case costs — filing, records, experts — come out separately, usually off the top before the split, so always ask which order applies.
What is diminished value?
The resale value your car permanently loses because it now carries an accident record, even after a perfect repair. Insurers usually apply the 17c formula, which caps the base at 10% of pre-loss value and then reduces it for damage severity and mileage.
Are these numbers state-specific?
The multipliers are national norms. Workers' compensation is the exception — it uses a state schedule of weeks per body part, so that calculator asks for your state's rate rather than applying a multiplier.