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By Elliot Singer, Esq. · Published
Question 1
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The state sets the fault rule and, in Colorado, a cap on noneconomic damages.
Informational estimate only. It is not legal advice, a valuation, or a promise of recovery. Actual results depend on evidence, fault, and available insurance.
An injury sends two kinds of bills. One kind arrives in the mail: the ER, the imaging, the therapy, the paychecks you missed. The other never does. It is the ache that wakes you at 3 a.m., the stairs you now take one at a time, the trip you cancelled, the months of feeling like a passenger in your own life.
The law calls the second kind noneconomic damages. It includes physical pain, emotional distress, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life. Because there is no invoice for any of it, it has to be estimated, and the two estimating methods most people use are the ones this calculator runs.
The calculator gives you an illustration of how those methods work on your numbers. It is not a valuation of your claim, and it is not a prediction of what an insurer, a jury, or a court would do.
Start with economic damages: medical costs plus lost income. If you enter your bills, the calculator uses them. If not, it estimates medical costs from the treatment you select, using the same standard figures as our car accident settlement calculator. Then it multiplies that total by a band set by the severity you choose:
| Severity | Examples | Multiplier band |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | Sprains, strains, bruising that resolve in weeks | 1.5x to 2x |
| Moderate | A fracture that heals without surgery, months of care | 2x to 3x |
| Severe | Surgery, a disc injury, a long recovery | 3x to 4x |
| Catastrophic or permanent | Brain or spinal cord injury, amputation, lasting impairment | 4x to 5x |
If symptoms are lingering, the band moves up by 0.5x. If a doctor says the condition is permanent, it moves up by 1x. It never goes past 4x to 5x. The low end of the band gives the low figure and the high end gives the high figure, so the multiplier result is always a range.
Per diem puts a price on each day of recovery. By default, the daily rate is what you earned in a day: yearly earnings divided by 260 working days. You can replace it with your own figure, which is the right move if you were not working or if your pay does not reflect what a day of pain was like. The rate is multiplied by the days from the injury to recovery, or to the point your doctor says you have improved as much as you will.
Per diem works best when recovery has a clear end. For a permanent injury it stops counting at a date when the pain does not, which is why the multiplier method is used more often for permanent harm.
Hypothetical facts, round numbers, no real client. Say someone in Colorado breaks an ankle in a fall. It heals without surgery after about four months, so they choose moderate severity and say nothing is lingering. Their medical bills total $20,000, they lost $5,000 in pay, and they earned $52,000 a year. Recovery took 120 days.
| Economic damages ($20,000 medical + $5,000 wages) | $25,000 |
| Multiplier method: $25,000 × 2 to 3 (moderate) | $50,000 to $75,000 |
| Per diem rate: $52,000 ÷ 260 working days | $200 a day |
| Per diem method: $200 × 120 days | $24,000 |
| Range across both methods | $24,000 to $75,000 |
The two methods disagree, and that is useful information. Per diem only counts the 120 days; the multiplier looks at the size of the bills. When the gap is wide, it usually means the claim turns on evidence about how those months actually went.
Now change one fact: the property owner argues the person was looking at their phone, and they answer that about 25% of the blame could fall on them. Colorado reduces both figures by 25%. The multiplier result becomes $37,500 to $56,250, and per diem becomes $18,000. At 50% or more, Colorado would bar recovery entirely.
Illustration only. It is not a Conduit Law result, not a prediction for any claim, and not a statement of what a claim like this would settle for.
A formula picks a band. Evidence decides where a claim lands inside it, and sometimes whether it belongs in a different band altogether.
Tends to raise it
Tends to lower it
Our guide on how to calculate pain and suffering damages walks through more examples, and what drives the value of pain and suffering in Colorado covers the factors one at a time.
Colorado limits noneconomic damages under C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5. Under HB24-1472 the cap is $1,500,000, and it applies to claims that accrue on or after Jan. 1, 2025, and to any action filed during 2025. If your injury happened before 2025, a different figure may apply, and a lawyer can confirm which.
Two limits on the limit: damages for physical impairment or disfigurement are not subject to that cap, and wrongful death claims have their own, separate figure. Economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages are not capped.
Arizona, California, and Kansas do not cap noneconomic damages in ordinary injury cases. In most claims, the insurance available sets the practical limit long before any cap does.
That is the honest edge of any formula. A lawyer reading the records can fill in what the calculator has to assume. If you want the whole claim rather than one piece of it, the injury settlement calculator adds medical costs, wages, and insurance limits together.
There is no typical amount, and a single average would mislead more than it helps. Pain and suffering follows the injury: how much it hurt, how long recovery took, whether anything is permanent, and how well that is documented. Two people with the same medical bills can have very different claims. The calculator above shows how the common methods turn your own facts into a range.
Nothing bills for it, so it is estimated. The multiplier method multiplies economic damages (medical costs and lost income) by a number tied to severity and permanence. The per diem method assigns a daily amount to each day from the injury to recovery. Either way, the figure rests on evidence: medical records, a symptom journal, photos, and people who saw the change in your life.
Many estimates use 1.5 to 5. In this calculator, a minor injury starts at 1.5x to 2x, moderate at 2x to 3x, severe at 3x to 4x, and catastrophic or permanent at 4x to 5x. Lingering symptoms move the band up by 0.5x and a permanent condition by 1x, never past 4x to 5x. The band is an illustration of the method, not a rule any insurer or court follows.
Per diem means "per day." You pick a daily rate and multiply it by the days from the injury to recovery or maximum medical improvement. A common starting rate is what you earn in a day; this calculator divides yearly earnings by 260 working days unless you enter your own rate. Per diem fits injuries with a clear end date and can understate permanent ones.
A fair request is one the evidence can support. Running both methods gives you a sense of the range, and the records decide where in that range a claim sits: consistent treatment, documented limits on work and daily life, and lasting effects push it up, while gaps in care and unexplained delays pull it down.
Yes. Pain and suffering is part of an injury claim whether or not a lawyer is involved, and some people resolve smaller claims on their own. A lawyer tends to matter more when the injury is serious, fault is disputed, treatment is ongoing, or the claim may be larger than the insurance. A free case review can help you decide which kind of claim you have.
Yes. Colorado caps noneconomic damages, which include pain and suffering, at $1,500,000 under C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5 (HB24-1472). The cap applies to claims that accrue on or after Jan. 1, 2025, and to any action filed during 2025. Damages for physical impairment or disfigurement are not subject to that cap, and wrongful death claims have a separate figure.
Usually, yes. In Colorado and Kansas, a recovery is reduced by your share of fault and barred at 50% or more. Arizona and California use pure comparative fault, so a recovery is reduced by your share but not barred. The calculator applies those rules to both methods.
With records made along the way. Medical notes that describe pain and limits, a journal of bad days and missed activities, photos of the injury as it heals, and statements from family, friends, or coworkers who saw the difference. Following your doctor's treatment plan matters too, because gaps in care give the other side room to argue the injury was minor.
Use the pain and suffering questionnaire to document your losses
Generally, yes. Noneconomic damages cover physical pain, emotional distress, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life. Anxiety, sleep problems, or fear after an injury count, and they carry more weight when a doctor or counselor has documented them.
No. This tool estimates the pain and suffering part only, with two methods side by side. The settlement calculator estimates a whole vehicle accident claim (medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering together) and checks it against insurance limits.
Estimate a full accident claim with the settlement calculator
A calculator works from a handful of answers. A free case review starts from the records. If the injury was serious or the insurer's number does not match what you lived through, it may be worth a conversation.
No Fee Unless We Win. Costs or adverse fees may still apply. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.