Glossary

Per diem method

The alternative convention: assign a daily amount for the recovery period rather than a multiple of the bills.

The per-diem approach picks a daily rate and multiplies it by the number of days the injury affected the person. Like the multiplier method it is a convention, not law. The daily rate is where the argument is. Basing it on the claimant's own earnings is common and produces an uncomfortable result — it values a lower earner's pain below a higher earner's for the same injury. Choosing a fixed rate avoids that, but the figure is then one somebody picked, and the other side will ask how. It tends to be most defensible for injuries with a definite recovery period and least useful for permanent ones.

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