How Our Estimate Works

Last updated 2026-06-18. Informational only — not legal advice.

We believe an estimate is only useful if you understand its limits. This page explains exactly how ClaimGauge produces a range, what it is based on, and what it deliberately does not do.

In short: our tools are informational. They are not legal advice, not a prediction of your case value, and ClaimGauge is not a law firm or a lawyer-referral service.

The heuristic we use

Our estimate uses a long-standing rough approach: take your economic damages ("specials"), such as documented medical bills and lost wages, and apply a pain-and-suffering multiplier to approximate non-economic harm. We present the result as a range, not a single number.

This heuristic is a starting point, not a formula anyone is bound to. Insurers, adjusters, and courts are not required to follow it, and real outcomes depend on liability, insurance limits, your state's law, your injuries, and your evidence, which the tool cannot evaluate.

Our sources and what we leave to the data layer

Where we reference general concepts like typical filing-deadline ranges or common multiplier practices, we draw on widely published, general information about how personal injury claims tend to work. We intentionally do not invent average settlement figures and present them as predictions.

Any specific numbers shown in the tool come from its data layer as illustrations, not promises. We speak in ranges and examples and leave precise, case-specific figures to a licensed attorney who can review your facts.

The heuristic, stated plainly

Rough industry heuristic some insurance adjusters use to ESTIMATE a starting figure for pain & suffering: specials multiplied by a number roughly between 1.5 and 5. It is NOT a legal formula, NOT how a court calculates damages, and NOT a prediction. Minor/soft-tissue injuries trend toward the low end; severe, painful, permanent or clearly-documented injuries trend higher (occasionally above 5 in rare cases). Real outcomes depend on liability, insurance policy limits, jurisdiction, injury severity and evidence.

Per diem: An alternative heuristic is the 'per diem' (per day) method: assign a daily dollar amount for each day you live with the pain (sometimes justified by your daily wage), multiplied by the number of days of suffering. Like the multiplier method, it is a negotiation starting point, not a legal formula or a prediction.

On contacting you (TCPA)

Under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), marketing calls/texts that use an autodialer or prerecorded/artificial voice generally require the consumer's prior express written consent. NOTE: the law is in flux — the FCC's '1-to-1 consent' rule was vacated by the 11th Circuit (Jan 2025), and in March 2026 the 5th Circuit held the TCPA's text does not require WRITTEN (as opposed to oral) consent in that circuit; the broader written-consent standard otherwise remains the prevailing rule. This site does not place such calls/texts and is not a law firm.

Under the FCC opt-out rule effective April 11, 2025, consumers may revoke consent to robocalls/robotexts by any reasonable means (standard keywords like STOP, QUIT, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, END must be honored), and callers must stop within a reasonable time (the FCC's 10-business-day standard). A broader 'revocation-all' expansion has been delayed (to Jan 31, 2027).

Regulatory & honesty notes

Informational only; this site is NOT a law firm, NOT a lawyer-referral service, and provides NO legal advice. Estimates are rough illustrations, not predictions, guarantees or promises.
The 'specials × multiplier' and 'per diem' figures are negotiation heuristics some adjusters use, NOT legal formulas and NOT how courts award damages.
Do NOT invent or imply average settlement dollar amounts as if they predict a case; outcomes depend on liability, insurance limits, jurisdiction, injuries and evidence.
Statutes of limitation and negligence/fault rules vary by state; missing a deadline can permanently bar recovery — consult a licensed attorney promptly.
Do NOT build on Camp Lejeune: the Camp Lejeune Justice Act filing deadline passed on August 10, 2024, and no new claims are being accepted (narrow exception only for previously-filed, then-denied claims).
If the site ever sends marketing calls/texts, it must comply with the TCPA (prior express written consent where required, honor opt-outs) — but the cleanest posture is to send no autodialed/prerecorded marketing at all.

What we deliberately do not claim

Per-injury multiplier tiers (whiplash ~1.5-3, fracture ~3-4, TBI ~4-5+) are GENERALIZED illustrations of how adjusters loosely scale severity; they are not state-specific, not authoritative tiers, and must never be presented as predictions.
No average/typical settlement dollar figures are included by design — such numbers would be misleading as predictors and were deliberately omitted.
TCPA written-vs-oral consent requirement is currently contested in the courts (5th Circuit Mar 2026 split); exact obligations may differ by federal circuit and could change — confirm with current counsel before any outreach.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is ClaimGauge a law firm or referral service?: No. ClaimGauge is an informational service. We are not a law firm, we do not give legal advice, and we are not a lawyer-referral service. Our tools provide rough, illustrative estimates and educational content only.
What does TCPA consent mean if I request a callback?: It means you give explicit permission to be contacted about your request, including by autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts. Consent is not required to use our site or any service, and you can revoke it at any time.
Why don't you publish average settlement amounts?: Because presenting an average as what you will receive would be misleading. Outcomes vary too much by liability, coverage, injuries, evidence, and state. We speak in ranges and illustrations and leave specific, case-based figures to a licensed attorney.