MVA
How to Screen Motor Vehicle Accident Callers Before They Reach Intake
The five questions that decide whether an MVA caller is a case: accident date, fault, treatment, the at-fault driver's insurance and the statute of limitations. What each one checks and how to set it.
Key takeaways
- Screen every MVA caller before they reach your intake team, not after.
- The five default checks: the accident happened inside your window (30 or 90 days), the caller was not at fault, has already received treatment or seen a doctor, the at-fault driver has insurance, and the claim is inside the statute of limitations.
- Add your own questions, such as the states you take cases in.
- A caller who fails a question is never transferred and never billed.
The fastest way to waste an intake team's day is to put callers on the line who were never going to be cases. Screening a motor vehicle accident (MVA) caller means asking a short set of qualifying questions before the caller reaches your firm, and only transferring the ones who pass. Five questions do most of the work: when the accident happened, who was at fault, whether the caller has been treated, whether the at-fault driver is insured, and whether the claim is still inside the statute of limitations.
Here is what each question checks, why it matters, and how to set it for your firm.
1. Did the accident happen inside your window?
The check: the accident happened inside 30 or 90 days. You pick the window.
Why it matters: a recent accident usually means the caller is still deciding what to do, the details are fresh, and nobody else has signed them yet. A tighter window gives you fresher callers; a wider one gives you more volume. Pick the one your intake team converts best.
2. Was the caller at fault?
The check: the caller was not at fault.
Why it matters: liability is the backbone of most MVA cases. Screening out at-fault callers keeps your intake team on callers who can bring a claim against the other driver.
3. Has the caller already been treated?
The check: the caller has already received treatment or seen a doctor.
Why it matters: treatment documents the injury. A caller who has already seen a doctor has an injury on record, which is what most firms want before they take a case.
4. Does the at-fault driver have insurance?
The check: the at-fault driver has insurance.
Why it matters: in most car accident cases the other driver's insurer is where the recovery comes from. An uninsured at-fault driver can turn a strong-sounding case into one your firm cannot take.
5. Is the claim inside the statute of limitations?
The check: the claim is inside the statute of limitations.
Why it matters: every state sets a deadline for filing a personal injury claim. A caller past it is not a case, however good the facts sound. Your intake script should reflect the deadlines in the states you take cases in.
What else should you add to the script?
The five questions are the default. Add anything your firm requires, for example:
- The states you take cases in.
- Injury types you do or do not take.
- Whether the caller already has a lawyer.
Whatever you add goes into the same intake script, and every caller answers it.
What happens when a caller fails a question?
They are not transferred, and you do not pay for them. That is the point of screening before the transfer: you only pay for callers who passed your questions and were connected live to your intake line.
Does the screening change by call source?
No. We run our own ads and buy from a vetted publisher network, and every caller, from either source, goes through the same intake script before they reach you. Every transfer is posted to you with the caller's intake answers, so you can see exactly how each one was screened.
Want these checks running on your intake line? See MVA live transfers and pre-signed cases, read what an MVA live transfer is, or book a call with a licensed attorney on our team.