In Manvel, people often use a calculator right after a crash—when they’re still gathering records. That’s not wrong, but it can be misleading if it’s based on incomplete information.
A calculator is most useful when you can plug in details you can later document, such as:
- medical visits and diagnoses (not just “pain”)
- treatment plans and follow-ups
- time missed from work
- out-of-pocket expenses (medications, transportation, therapy)
It’s less reliable when:
- you haven’t been evaluated for lingering injuries (common with back/neck injuries and soft-tissue trauma)
- the crash report is disputed or unclear about who had the right of way
- the trucking company argues the injury wasn’t caused by the crash


