Most settlement calculators are built to approximate the same categories of damages:
- Medical bills and treatment costs (including follow-up care)
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket expenses (medications, transportation to appointments, etc.)
- Non-economic damages such as pain, suffering, and loss of normal life
For Hayward residents, the practical difference is often documentation timing. Crashes involving commercial trucks frequently lead to imaging, specialist visits, and therapy that extend over weeks or months—so the “early” number from a calculator may be incomplete.
A calculator is most useful when you treat it as a checklist: it helps you gather the numbers you’ll later need for a demand package.


