Most online tools estimate value by sorting your situation into categories—medical care, lost income, and non-economic harm like pain and suffering. In theory, the tool translates your inputs into a range.
In real Riverbank cases, the “calculator” portion is only the starting point because insurers care about three things more than a number:
- Causation (what the crash actually caused)
- Liability (who’s responsible—driver, trucking company, maintenance, or others)
- Proof (how well your medical and wage records connect to the crash)
If any of those are weak, the range from a calculator can be misleading.


