Search "injury settlement calculator" and you'll find dozens of tools promising a number in thirty seconds. Here's the honest answer: no formula can value an injury case, because the factors that actually move the number aren't inputs a calculator can hold.
What actually determines value in Arizona
Medical damages — past and future. Bills to date are the easy part. Serious injuries often involve future care: additional procedures, therapy, medication, equipment. Future care must be projected and supported, and it can dwarf the past bills a calculator asks for.
Lost income — and lost earning capacity. Missed paychecks are countable. A diminished ability to earn over a working lifetime is a projection that depends on your age, occupation, and medical trajectory — and it's frequently the largest economic component of a serious case.
Non-economic damages. Pain, suffering, and lost quality of life have no formula. Arizona's constitution generally prohibits caps on damages in personal injury cases, which means these damages are genuinely case-specific rather than limited by a statutory ceiling.
Comparative fault. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, Arizona reduces recovery by the injured person's percentage of fault. A case "worth" $200,000 at full value is worth $140,000 at 30% fault — and fault percentages are negotiated and evidence-driven, not fixed.
Collectibility. A number is only real if someone can pay it. The at-fault party's policy limits, the availability of your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (which Arizona insurers must offer under A.R.S. § 20-259.01), and any additional coverage sources often set the practical ceiling on recovery — a factor no calculator even asks about.
Evidence quality. The same injury with strong early evidence — photos, camera footage, witnesses, consistent medical documentation — can resolve very differently than the same injury with a thin file. Value follows proof.
What about the insurers' own software?
It's widely reported that many insurers use claims-evaluation software to generate settlement ranges. Whatever tool is used, its output reflects the insurer's inputs and assumptions — it is a negotiating position, not a verdict.
The practical takeaway
Be skeptical of any instant number — high or low. A meaningful evaluation of an Arizona injury case requires reviewing the medical picture, the fault evidence, and every applicable insurance policy. A licensed Arizona attorney can do that in a consultation; a web form cannot.
This is general information about Arizona law, not legal advice and not a prediction about any specific case.