Not-at-fault, injured, unrepresented
Four words appear in nearly every MVA lead vendor’s title tag and almost none of them define what the words mean, how each filter is verified, or what tightening one does to your price and volume. This page does.
By Tarun Kapoor, Founder · Published 2026-07-30
The four qualification filters
Not at fault
Who caused the collision?Comparative-negligence states complicate this: a claimant 20% at fault still has a case in most jurisdictions, one 60% at fault usually does not. Vendors screen on the claimant's own account of the crash, sometimes corroborated by the police report. Final liability is determined by evidence collected after the file opens — a lead screened as not-at-fault is a strong indicator, never a guarantee.
Tightening this filter cuts volume 20–35% and raises CPL.
Injured
Was there a physical injury?Property-damage-only claims have no fee to earn. Screening asks whether the claimant was hurt and how, in their own words. Soft-tissue complaints dominate volume; the injury description is what your intake uses to set case-value expectations before the first call.
Baseline filter — supply without it is not MVA lead supply.
Sought treatment
Have they seen a doctor since the crash?This is the filter most buyers under-weight and the one that moves case value most. See the treatment section below.
Requiring confirmed treatment cuts volume 25–40% and raises CPL materially.
Unrepresented
Have they already signed with an attorney?A claimant who has signed a retainer elsewhere is not a lead, and calling one raises ethics problems under solicitation rules. This is screened by direct question at capture. Note that unrepresented at the moment of capture does not mean unrepresented an hour later — which is precisely why delivery speed and exclusivity matter.
Baseline filter — should never be optional.
Every one of these is a trade between volume and quality. Tighten all four to their strictest setting and you will get a small number of excellent, expensive leads. Loosen them and you will get volume your intake desk burns hours disqualifying. The right setting is the one that matches cases your firm will genuinely take — not the one that sounds most selective.
Treatment status — the filter buyers under-price
Treatment status records whether the injured person has seen a doctor, chiropractor, urgent care, or emergency room since the crash, and how soon after it. It is the single strongest predictor of case value in an MVA lead: untreated claimants sign at materially lower rates and settle for less, because damages are documented by medical records, not by pain described on a phone call.
There is a practical corollary that costs firms cases: an untreated claimant three days after a crash is not a bad lead, they are an earlyone. Firms that auto-reject “no treatment yet” throw away signable files. The better pattern is a follow-up sequence — check back at day three and day seven — because the facts on an MVA inquiry change in the first fortnight far more than buyers expect.
Insurance coverage and policy limits
Insurance screening on an MVA lead means confirming that an at-fault policy exists and, where possible, what it covers. Most vendors capture only what the claimant reports — that the other driver 'had insurance.' Verified coverage requires the police report, a carrier confirmation, or a declarations page. Ask any vendor which of the two it is selling you; the price difference should be substantial.
In practice, three tiers exist in the market and they are priced very differently:
| Coverage screening tier | What it means | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| Unscreened | No coverage question asked at capture | Lowest CPL, highest intake waste |
| Claimant-reported | Claimant says the at-fault driver was insured; not verified | Market standard — what most exclusive supply is |
| Verified | Police report, carrier confirmation, or declarations page on file | Substantial premium; low volume |
Ask any vendor quoting you a price which tier they are selling. If the answer is vague, assume claimant-reported and price accordingly.
Statute of limitations and accident recency
The statute of limitations caps how long after a crash a claim can be filed — commonly two years, though it ranges from one to six years by state. A lead for an accident approaching that deadline is worth less because there is no time to build the file. Reputable vendors screen accident date against the filing state and drop inquiries outside your stated window.
Most exclusive supply is screened to accidents within the last twelve months, and the freshest inquiries — inside 72 hours of the crash — both sign at the highest rates and cost the most. Aged supply sold at $30–$120 per record is usually 90+ days old, which is why it belongs in a separate follow-up project rather than in your live intake queue.
Rideshare, commercial, and other case types
Rideshare accident leads involve a collision where an Uber or Lyft vehicle was involved — as the claimant's ride, the at-fault vehicle, or a third party. They are priced above standard auto because commercial policies carry higher limits (often $1M while a driver is on-trip), which raises case value, but liability and coverage tiers are more complex to establish at intake.
The same logic applies across the case-type ladder: commercial truck, pedestrian, motorcycle, and wrongful death all carry higher case value and correspondingly higher CPL. Full pricing by case type is on the pricing benchmarks page, and you can set which types you receive as a delivery filter — details on buy MVA leads.
Consent is a filter too
A lead that passes all four qualification filters and arrives without a retrievable consent record is a liability, not an asset. Every lead we deliver carries a timestamp, IP, and the exact disclosure language the claimant saw. The full requirement set is on TCPA compliance for MVA lead buyers.