A qualified motor vehicle accident lead is a claimant who was in an accident within your firm’s time window, in a state and county you serve, who was not primarily at fault, who was injured and has received medical treatment, who does not already have an attorney, and whose phone number has been verified. Your firm should write the exact criteria before a campaign starts.
As with workers’ compensation, “qualified” only means something once your firm defines it. Two personal injury firms in the same city can have very different ideas of a good motor vehicle accident lead. One takes soft-tissue cases and wants volume; another only wants claimants with significant treatment and clear liability. Both are reasonable, and a lead that is perfect for one is a waste of time for the other.
The fastest way to write your own definition is to look at the MVA inquiries your firm declined over the last few months and list the reasons. Those reasons become your screening criteria, and the ones that recur most often are the ones worth making hard disqualifiers.
Common MVA screening dimensions
The dimensions below cover most of what a personal injury firm needs to know before deciding whether to pursue a motor vehicle accident claimant. Not every firm will use all of them, and some will add their own.
Accident date
When the accident happened matters in two ways. It has to fall within your state’s limitations period, and most firms also have a preference for recent accidents, because evidence is fresher, treatment is still ongoing, and the claimant has not yet been worn down by the insurance process. Firms often set a window, such as accidents within the last several months, and treat anything close to the limitations deadline as a priority call.
State and county
Where the accident occurred and where the claimant lives determine which law applies and whether your firm can take the case. Many firms also find that sign rates and case values vary considerably between counties, so capturing the county, not just the state, makes later analysis possible.
Role in the accident
Whether the claimant was a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcyclist changes the analysis of fault and insurance coverage. Passengers, for example, are rarely at fault and may have claims against more than one driver.
Fault
Whether the claimant believes they were at fault, not at fault, or is unsure is one of the most important screening questions. In modified comparative negligence states, where a claimant who is more than 50% at fault generally recovers nothing, it matters more than ever. The claimant’s own view is not the final word, but it tells your intake team where to focus.
Injury and medical treatment
Whether the claimant was injured, and a short description of how, establishes whether there is a claim at all. Whether they have received medical treatment, where, and when tells you a great deal about how the claim will develop. Many firms require that treatment has begun within a set number of days of the accident, both because it supports the claim and because, in no-fault states, timing can decide whether benefits are available.
Police report and insurance
Whether police responded and a report was filed is useful evidence, though many firms record it rather than requiring it, since valid claims sometimes have no report. Whether the other driver was insured, and whether the claimant has their own coverage, shapes the likely recovery.
Vehicle type
Commercial trucks, rideshare vehicles, and government vehicles change the case significantly, bringing in different insurance, different defendants, and in the case of government vehicles, different notice requirements. Screening for these lets intake flag them for priority review.
Current representation and contact verification
Whether an attorney is already involved is usually a hard disqualifier. And whether the phone number belongs to the claimant and is reachable, confirmed by SMS or a callback before delivery, determines whether your team can act on any of the rest.
Hard criteria vs. preferences
Some criteria are genuine thresholds. A claimant who was not injured does not have an injury claim, and a claimant who already has a lawyer is not available to your firm. Others are preferences that depend on your firm’s capacity and strategy: a minimum injury severity, specific counties, or a requirement that treatment has already begun.
Keeping the two categories separate is important. If every preference is treated as a threshold, screening can become so narrow that volume disappears, and the leads that remain become very expensive. Writing the criteria down in two lists, thresholds and preferences, gives both your firm and your vendor a clear basis for adjusting the campaign when volume or quality moves.
Treatment timing and PIP states
In no-fault states, treatment timing can decide whether benefits are available at all. Florida, for example, generally requires initial treatment within 14 days of the accident for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. A claimant who waits longer may lose access to those benefits, which changes the case considerably. Firms in those states often make recent treatment a hard criterion rather than a preference. See Florida car accident leads after HB 837.
What qualification does not mean
A qualified lead meets your criteria and can be reached. It is not a signed case, and it is not a judgment about whether the claim has merit. That judgment belongs to your attorneys, and no screening process can substitute for it. What screening does is make sure your intake team spends its time on claimants worth evaluating.
The next step, once a qualified lead arrives, is a strong first call. See our car accident lead intake checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Should MVA leads require medical treatment?
Many firms require it, because claimants who have not treated are harder to evaluate and, in PIP states such as Florida, late treatment can affect available benefits. Whether it is a hard requirement is your firm’s decision.
Does a car accident lead need a police report?
Not always. Many firms record whether a report exists rather than requiring it, since some valid claims have no report.
Written by the IronFlow Legal team
IronFlow Legal builds exclusive lead generation campaigns for law firms across workers’ compensation, personal injury, slip and fall, employment, SSDI, and lemon law. Questions about anything in this article? Call (251) 233-4916 or send us a note.