What is a signed MVA retainer?
A signed MVA retainer is a motor vehicle accident case that arrives with the contingency-fee agreement already executed — the vendor's intake team qualified the claimant, explained representation, and captured the signature before handing the file over. They cost $1,500–$20,000+ per case against $585–$1,105 for a lead, and shift your risk from conversion to case selection: you no longer worry whether intake can sign, you worry whether the case was worth signing.
- It is not a lead. A lead is an inquiry your intake desk still has to convert. A signed retainer is an executed contingency-fee agreement. The two are priced an order of magnitude apart because they are different products.
- MVA means motor vehicle accident. Car, truck, motorcycle, scooter, or pedestrian collision — full disambiguation of the acronym is in the MVA glossary.
- The retainer itself is ordinary. What is unusual is who obtained the signature. A third party spoke to the claimant about representation before your firm did, which is where every compliance question in this model originates.
What else it is called
The most common alternative. Used interchangeably; no difference in product.
Emphasises that the signature preceded delivery. Same thing.
Firm-side vocabulary. A case on which representation has commenced.
Vendor framing that implies supporting documents ship with the agreement — verify which ones actually do.
The pricing model rather than the product. Describes how the vendor bills, not what arrives.
Agency vocabulary for the same arrangement, usually bundled inside a broader marketing contract.
A signed case sold to one firm only. Per-case exclusivity is table stakes; territory exclusivity is a different, pricier promise.
What one costs
Signed MVA retainers are priced by case type, not by a single rate. Published vendor pricing runs $1,500–$2,800 for soft-tissue cases, $2,500–$4,800 for standard auto, $3,500–$6,500 for motorcycle and pedestrian, $7,000–$15,000 for commercial truck, and $10,000–$20,000+ for catastrophic and wrongful death. Tier-1 metros such as Los Angeles, Houston, and Miami run 1.2–1.6× those bands.
| Case type | Per signed case | Typical net fee |
|---|---|---|
| Soft tissue / minor injury | $1,500–$2,800 | $6,000–$12,000 |
| Standard auto | $2,500–$4,800 | $12,000–$20,000 |
| Motorcycle / pedestrian | $3,500–$6,500 | $18,000–$35,000 |
| Commercial truck | $7,000–$15,000 | $60,000–$250,000+ |
| Catastrophic / wrongful death | $10,000–$20,000+ | $150,000–$1M+ |
Other vendors’ published claims. We supply exclusive MVA leads and do not sell signed retainers.
What ships with one
A complete signed MVA retainer packet contains nine items: the executed agreement naming your firm, an e-signature audit trail, a recording of the intake call, a HIPAA-compliant medical authorisation, the crash report or a retrievable report number, at-fault carrier and coverage detail, treatment status and provider, TCPA consent artifacts from the original inquiry, and a confirmed callback number. The three most often missing are the audit trail, the call recording, and the crash report.
Signed retainer vs. MVA lead
The difference between buying a lead and buying a signed retainer is who carries conversion risk. With a lead you pay $585–$1,105 for an inquiry and your intake desk converts it at 10–15%, so a case costs $3,900–$11,050 and you control qualification. With a retainer you pay $1,500–$20,000+ for a case that is already signed, and you inherit whatever the vendor's intake accepted. Firms with strong intake should buy leads; firms without one pay the premium.
The decision turns on one number — your own signed-case rate. The comparison, the crossover table, and a calculator that runs it at your figures are on signed MVA retainers. The metric itself is defined on cost per signed case.