North Carolina Injury Settlement Calculator

North Carolina is a pure contributory negligence state — any share of fault can bar recovery entirely. You generally have 3 years to file a personal injury claim.

How the value is built: insurers add your medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs (economic damages), then add pain and suffering — usually your medical bills × a severity multiplier of 1.5 to 10. The fault rule above then reduces or eliminates the total.

Note: Med-mal non-economic cap $500K; pure contributory negligence.

Use the estimator above with your real numbers to see a low / estimated / high net-to-client range across the multiplier and per diem methods.

The multiplier method is what most insurance adjusters use. First, total your economic damages: every medical bill, every dollar of lost income, property repair, and any other out-of-pocket cost tied to the accident. Then multiply your medical specials by a number — the severity multiplier — that runs roughly 1.5 for minor injuries to 10 for catastrophic ones.

Permanent impairment and scarring push the multiplier higher (doc.md: +0.5 for a partial permanent injury, +1.0 for total; +0.25 for minor scarring, +0.5 for major). The product is your pain-and-suffering estimate; added to economic damages it gives a gross settlement.

The per diem ("per day") method assigns a daily rate — commonly around $150 — to every day you suffered from the injury until you reached maximum medical improvement. Per diem × recovery days gives an alternative pain-and-suffering figure. This site shows both side by side so you can see which produces a higher number for your situation.

Your share of fault can swing the number dramatically. In pure comparative states you recover reduced only by your exact percentage. In modified comparative states you are barred once your fault reaches 50–51%. In contributory negligence states (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and D.C.) any share of fault can wipe out your recovery entirely — so even 10% fault can mean zero.

Results are educational estimates, not legal advice or a promise of what an insurer will pay. Real offers depend on liability disputes, the strength of your evidence, available insurance (a policy limit can cap everything), the attorney you hire, and the specific facts of your case. Damage caps — especially in medical malpractice — can lower non-economic awards below the multiplier result. Always confirm your state's current statute of limitations and rules with a licensed attorney.