How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages — the easy-to-document part. We then apply the multiplier method, the same approach insurers and attorneys use industry-wide, to estimate pain and suffering: your economic damages multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to 5, depending on how serious the injury actually was.
No cap in Alabama, with one real exception
Alabama places no statutory cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary personal injury case. A $400,000 cap that once applied specifically to medical malpractice claims, Ala. Code § 6-5-544, was struck down as unconstitutional by the Alabama Supreme Court in Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Ass'n, 592 So. 2d 156 (Ala. 1991). Punitive damages, which are separate from compensatory damages and awarded only in cases involving particularly egregious conduct, remain capped at three times compensatory damages or $500,000 — $1.5 million if the case involves a physical injury — whichever is greater, under Ala. Code § 6-11-21.
The real risk: any fault at all
Alabama is one of only five US jurisdictions that still follow pure contributory negligence. If you share any fault at all for the accident — even a small percentage — Alabama's rule can bar you from recovering anything, regardless of how large your damages are. See our Alabama comparative negligence calculator for the full rule and its narrow exceptions.