Three numbers, decided in this order: your honest band, your walk-away target, and only then your opening demand — deliberately above the band, because the negotiation will spend that cushion. The calculator computes all three and shows the reasoning.
Reviewed August 24, 2026 · methodology · changelogOpening above your band is standard practice on both sides — the insurer's first offer sits below it for the same reason. Educational, not legal advice.
Both sides of every injury negotiation anchor: the insurer's first offer lands below the honest band, your demand lands above it, and the settlement forms between the anchors across 3–6 rounds. Opening at your true target is the classic amateur error — there's nowhere to concede from, and concessions are the currency of the process. The 1.4–1.75× band-top anchor exists to fund those rounds without ever taking you below your walk-away number.
A number is only as strong as what rides with it: every record and bill, wage proof, the liability evidence, and your computed range with the arithmetic printed — the demand letter builder assembles the whole document from your inputs. A documented demand forces the adjuster's software and supervisor to engage with your inputs; a bare number invites a bare counter. Send it in writing, keep every response in writing, and date your deadlines.
The upper-middle of your band is a defensible target for a well-documented, clear-liability claim (adjust down honestly for real fault exposure — check your state's rule). Write the number down before negotiations start: anchors move people, and yours is the only defense against theirs. If their best offer clears it — take the win and check the net. If it never gets close on a documented claim, that gap is what pays for a lawyer.
Compute your honest band first — (medical bills + lost wages) × your severity multiplier — then open above it: 1.4–1.75× the band's top is a standard anchor that leaves room for the 3–6 rounds most negotiations take. Decide your walk-away number (upper-middle of the band for a well-documented claim) before you send the demand, not during the phone call.
Complaints typically plead damages categories, not a sticker price — and where a number is required, your attorney sets it with pleading rules in mind. The 'how much' decision that's actually yours is the settlement demand and the walk-away number, both of which should come from the band math, not from what sounds impressive.
Adjusters open low for the same reason you open high — it's how anchored negotiations work, and both sides know it. What actually damages credibility isn't a high number; it's an unsupported one. A demand of 1.5× band-top attached to complete documentation and the printed arithmetic reads as a negotiating position; the same number with no support reads as a wish.
Put the implied-multiplier math in writing ('your $9,000 is 1.2× my specials; the band is 2–3×'), set a response deadline, and ask for their basis. A documented claim stuck below band is the textbook moment to price an attorney: if a contingency lawyer's likely result exceeds your best offer by more than the fee, the math has made the decision. Run it in the take-home calculator.