West Virginia Personal Injury Settlement Calculator

What Is the West Virginia Personal Injury Settlement Calculator?

The WV Personal Injury Settlement Calculator is a free online tool that estimates the total value of your injury claim based on the data you enter. It uses a simplified formula that accounts for:

• Economic damages (like medical bills and lost wages)
• Non-economic damages (like pain and suffering)
• Your percentage of fault
• Attorney fees
• Insurance policy limits
• Case costs and liens

The calculator helps injury victims in West Virginia understand how state-specific rules (like comparative fault and damage caps) can affect their final compensation.

How It Works: The Formula Behind the Estimate

The calculator uses a logical, rule-based process with built-in legal guidelines from West Virginia law.

Here’s a breakdown of how it calculates your estimated settlement:

1. Start With Economic Damages

These are real, out-of-pocket costs and losses:

• Medical expenses (past + future)
• Lost wages (past + future)
• Property damage

2. Add Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are subjective and compensate for things like:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life

How it calculates this:
It multiplies your medical expenses and lost wages by a severity multiplier based on how serious your injuries are:

3. Apply Fault Reduction (WV’s 50% Bar Rule)

West Virginia follows a modified comparative fault rule:

If you’re 50% or more at fault, you cannot recover any damages.

If you’re less than 50% at fault, your settlement is reduced by your percentage of fault.

Example:
If your damages total $100,000 and you’re 20% at fault, you can only recover $80,000.

4. Check Insurance Policy Limits

If the at-fault party’s insurance policy has a coverage limit (e.g., $100,000), and your calculated settlement exceeds that amount, your recovery is capped at the policy limit.

The calculator will show a message when your claim value is reduced due to this cap.

5. Deduct Attorney Fees and Case Costs

You can choose whether you have:

• No attorney (0%)
• Pre-litigation attorney (33.3%)
• Litigation-phase attorney (40%)

It also lets you input any case costs or medical liens that may reduce your net recovery.

Why This Calculator Is Unique to West Virginia

This isn’t just a generic injury calculator. It’s tailored specifically for West Virginia law.

Key WV-specific features:

• Modified comparative fault with a strict 50% bar
• Custom severity multipliers aligned with common injury types
• Built-in insurance cap considerations
• Easy toggles for attorney fee structures

This gives you a more realistic, legally grounded estimate than calculators that don’t consider state law.

Example Calculation: What You Might Expect

Let’s say you were in a car accident and input the following:

• 10% at fault
• $20,000 in medical expenses
• $5,000 in lost wages
• $5,000 in property damage
• “Moderate” injury severity
• $100,000 insurance policy limit
• 33.3% attorney fee
• $2,000 in case costs

The calculator would estimate:

• Economic Damages: $30,000
• Non-Economic Damages: $75,000 (25k x 3.0)
• Total Before Fault: $105,000
• Fault Reduction (10%): -$10,500
• Settlement After Reduction: $94,500
• Attorney Fee: -$31,468
• Case Costs: -$2,000
• Estimated Net Recovery: ~$61,000

Disclaimer: This Is an Estimate, Not Legal Advice

The tool gives you an estimate, not a guarantee.

Here’s why:

• Every case is different.
• Insurance adjusters may value pain and suffering differently.
• Settlement negotiations and litigation can change outcomes.

The calculator does apply West Virginia’s legal rules, but it can’t replace legal guidance from a qualified personal injury lawyer.

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