Texas claim-value methodology
How the preliminary range is calculated
Learn which reported factors the rules-based educational model considers, how those factors are translated into a broad range, and what the calculator cannot determine.
Prepared by the Texas Settlement Calculator Editorial Team · Content updated September 24, 2026
The model starts with reported facts
A Texas personal-injury claim cannot be reliably valued by applying a fixed multiplier to medical bills. The v0.60 calculator uses an additive, rules-based framework: documented economic loss enters once; supported diagnosis, treatment, symptom, function, and permanency components are added with anti-stacking limits; and responsibility and recovery-source issues are analyzed separately from intrinsic injury damages. Unknown facts add no automatic dollars rather than being guessed. For a discussion of multiplier formulas and why they are not a reliable valuation method, read our Texas personal injury settlement multiplier guide. For claims involving an 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, or other commercial vehicle, use the Texas commercial-truck accident settlement calculator. If the collision involved a driver suspected of alcohol or drug impairment, use the Texas DWI accident settlement calculator. For diagnosis-specific educational resources covering disc, TBI, shoulder, knee, and fracture claims, see the Texas Injury Claim Guides. The model considers:
Documented economics
Past medical expenses, lost income, supported future medical needs, and quantified future earning-capacity loss enter once.
Diagnosis and treatment
Defined injury families, capped additional diagnoses, identified procedures, surgery status, and anti-stacking rules shape the medical component.
Symptoms and function
Ongoing symptoms, activity or work impact, supported permanency, and catastrophic-injury facts can contribute separately.
Practical recovery
Responsibility, reported insurance, and possible additional recovery sources are analyzed separately from intrinsic injury damages.
The model first produces a gross preliminary injury-damages range. Responsibility and recovery-source information are then considered separately when the reported facts support a practical-recovery estimate. Metro location, commercial-truck status, DWI status, robotaxi involvement, treatment gaps, and prior conditions do not create automatic percentage boosts or deductions. The output is not a prediction of settlement, verdict, or net recovery.
What information affects the preliminary range?
The model considers four broad categories of user-reported information:
Responsibility & recovery
Responsibility can materially affect practical recovery, but the v0.60 model does not mechanically reduce intrinsic injury damages with a fault percentage. Uncertain responsibility is handled separately from the injury-damages range.
Medical & economic loss
Past medical expenses, lost income, supported future medical needs, and quantified future earning-capacity loss enter once. Exact reported amounts supersede broad brackets; medical bills are not multiplied.
Diagnosis & treatment
The model uses defined injury families, capped additional-diagnosis contributions, and the highest supported treatment stage. A named procedure can be evaluated; unidentified diagnoses or surgery are not assigned guessed dollars.
Insurance & recovery sources
Reported coverage and other potential recovery sources are considered separately from injury damages. The calculator cannot verify policy terms, exclusions, additional coverage, responsible parties, or collectability.
Two hypothetical Texas valuation scenarios
Documented temporary injury: A claimant has $12,000 in reported medical expenses, $3,000 in documented wage loss, a complete recovery, and straightforward responsibility. A treatment gap may create a documentation or causation question, but the elapsed time alone does not trigger an automatic dollar deduction.
Permanent work limitation: A claimant has surgery, physician-supported future treatment, and restrictions that reduce future earnings. The analysis must include future medical needs and earning capacity—not only past bills. These examples explain valuation inputs; they are not promises, averages, or actual results.
Build the medical and wage-loss record
Useful records include emergency notes, diagnostic imaging, specialist assessments, treatment recommendations, itemized bills, prescriptions, work-status notes, pay records, and a consistent account of how the injury affects daily activities. Future losses should be supported by a treating provider or qualified expert rather than a guess.
Texas generally bars recovery when responsibility is greater than 50%, under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §33.001. Most personal-injury suits must be filed within two years, although exceptions can change the deadline; see the official text of §16.003. For a preliminary educational estimate, use the full Texas case calculator.
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Start my free evaluationFrequently asked questions
Straight answers about how injury case values are estimated.
What is my case worth?
No calculator can determine what a particular case is worth. Our rules-based educational model considers the injuries, treatment, recovery, financial impact, and claim context you report to provide a gross preliminary claim-value range in about two minutes.
How is a personal injury settlement calculated?
There is no single formula that reliably predicts a personal injury settlement. The calculator groups user-reported information into broad claim patterns and considers treatment, recovery, financial impact, and other context. The result is educational and is not a prediction of settlement, verdict, or recovery.
What factors increase my case value?
Evidence concerning liability, injuries, treatment, recovery, documented financial loss, available coverage, and supported future needs may affect how a claim is evaluated. No single factor guarantees that a claim or recovery will increase.
What reduces my settlement?
Disputed responsibility, limited supporting documentation, treatment gaps, prior conditions, causation questions, policy limitations, and other defenses may affect a claim. Their effect depends on the individual facts.
Is this estimate a guarantee?
No. The calculator provides a gross, preliminary, non-binding claim-value range based on user-reported information. It does not predict settlement, verdict, net recovery, or any outcome, and it is not legal advice.
Is the calculator really free?
Yes. Consumers never pay. Participating law firms pay flat-fee advertising subscriptions. Consumers are not billed for using the tool, and using it creates no obligation to request attorney contact or hire anyone.
Calculation methodology
How the preliminary claim-value range is calculated
Texas Settlement Calculator uses a rules-based educational model. It is not a statistical, actuarial, or machine-learning model trained or validated on Texas settlements, verdicts, insurer files, or jury outcomes. The result is based on information reported by the user and internally designed component bands and guardrails. Unknown facts are not guessed: an unidentified or uncertain input contributes no automatic dollars until it is clarified.
Information the model considers
Diagnoses and treatment
Reported diagnosis families, additional diagnoses, the highest supported treatment stage, identified procedures or surgery, and supported permanency or catastrophic-injury facts.
Medical and economic loss
Reported past medical expenses, lost income, supported future medical needs, and quantified future earning-capacity loss. Exact reported amounts supersede broad brackets when available.
Symptoms, function, and causation
Current symptoms, work or activity impact, prior-condition information, provider-reported causation support, and other facts that may require record review.
Responsibility and recovery sources
Responsibility, reported insurance, commercial-vehicle facts, and possible additional recovery sources are evaluated separately from intrinsic injury damages and may affect practical recovery.
How reported information becomes a range
Step 1
Add documented economic loss once
Past medical expenses, lost income, supported future medical needs, and quantified future earning-capacity loss are represented once. The model does not multiply medical bills.
Step 2
Add supported injury and treatment components
The model adds a diagnosis-family component, a capped contribution for distinct additional diagnoses, and the highest supported treatment stage. A named surgery or procedure can be evaluated; an unidentified surgery receives no guessed surgery-treatment dollars.
Step 3
Add supported symptom and functional impact
Ongoing symptoms, activity or work impact, supported permanency, and catastrophic-injury facts may contribute separately while anti-stacking rules limit overlapping components.
Step 4
Separate claim value from practical recovery
The model returns a gross preliminary injury-damages range, then analyzes responsibility and reported recovery sources separately. Coverage, responsibility, and collectability do not increase intrinsic injury damages.
Representative effect of reported factors
This table explains the general direction of an input—not a fixed weight, percentage, or promised result. The effect of any factor depends on the other reported facts.
Gross injury damages—not net recovery
The displayed injury-damages range is gross and preliminary. Practical recovery is shown separately when the reported responsibility and recovery-source facts support it. Neither figure calculates attorney fees, case expenses, medical balances, liens, subrogation claims, taxes, or other possible deductions.
Why exact weights are not presented
Individual inputs are not promises that the range will rise or fall by a fixed percentage. Their effect depends on the combination of information reported, and overlapping factors are not intended to be counted twice.
What the calculator cannot determine
The model cannot determine credibility, admissibility, medical causation, reasonableness of charges, policy terms or exclusions, liens, comparative responsibility, legal defenses, venue effects, defendant collectability, litigation posture, judicial rulings, jury decisions, settlement behavior, or the amount any person will actually recover. User answers may also be incomplete or inaccurate.
This is educational information—not legal advice, an appraisal, or a prediction of settlement or verdict. A licensed attorney reviewing the individual facts may reach a materially different assessment.
Methodology disclosure updated September 24, 2026.
This tool produces a preliminary, non-binding estimate based on the information you provide and general personal-injury valuation methods. It is not legal advice, not a guarantee of any outcome, and not a substitute for review by a licensed attorney. Actual settlements and verdicts vary widely based on evidence, jurisdiction, insurance coverage, and many other factors. Texas Settlement Calculator is not a law firm and does not practice law; use of this tool does not create an attorney-client relationship.