Glossary
25 terms,in plain English.
The vocabulary of buying motor vehicle accident cases — from live transfers and ping-post to TCPA consent and no-fault thresholds.
Updated
- Billable duration
- The minimum time a transferred call must stay connected with the buyer's team before it counts as billable — a key protection written into an insertion order.
- Comparative negligence
- A fault rule that reduces a claimant's recovery by their share of fault. Under pure comparative negligence they can recover even if mostly at fault; under modified rules recovery is barred past 50% or 51%.
- Consent certificate
- A third-party record — such as a session replay with timestamps — proving what a consumer saw and agreed to when submitting a web form.
- Contributory negligence
- A strict fault rule, used in a handful of states, where any fault on the claimant's part can bar recovery entirely.
- Cost per signed case
- Total spend on a lead source divided by the number of cases signed from it. The most reliable way to compare vendors and pricing models. Learn more →
- DNC scrubbing
- Checking phone numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry, state registries and internal do-not-call lists before marketing calls.
- Exclusive lead
- A claimant inquiry — contact details, accident facts and consent — sold to one firm only and delivered in real time. The firm makes the first call. Learn more →
- Insertion order (IO)
- The written agreement for a campaign: states, criteria, caps, pricing, billable duration and return policy.
- Intake specialist
- A law firm staff member who speaks with potential clients, gathers case facts and moves qualified callers toward a consultation or retainer.
- Live transfer
- A real-time phone handoff of a screened claimant from an intake agent to a law firm's intake team, usually on a three-way call. Learn more →
- MVA
- Motor vehicle accident — any collision involving a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian or rideshare vehicle. In legal marketing, “MVA cases” are personal injury claims arising from these accidents.
- No-fault state
- A state where each driver's own PIP pays first, and lawsuits for pain and suffering are limited to injuries that meet a severity or cost threshold. Learn more →
- Pay per call
- A pricing model where the buyer pays for inbound phone calls that meet agreed criteria, such as a minimum call duration, rather than for form leads.
- Ping-post
- A lead-distribution method where a lead's details are offered (“pinged”) to multiple buyers, and the lead is sold (“posted”) to the highest bidder or several buyers.
- PIP
- Personal injury protection — first-party auto coverage that pays the policyholder's medical bills and some lost wages regardless of fault. Required in no-fault states.
- Prior express written consent
- The consent standard the TCPA generally requires for autodialed or prerecorded marketing calls and texts to mobile numbers: a clear, signed (often electronic) agreement to be contacted.
- Return policy
- The rules for crediting leads or transfers that miss the agreed criteria — invalid numbers, duplicates or disqualified claimants — within a set window.
- Serious injury threshold
- In no-fault states, the injury severity (or medical-cost level) a claimant must meet before suing the at-fault driver for non-economic damages.
- Signed retainer
- A case delivered after the claimant has e-signed the law firm's own engagement agreement. The firm's attorney still reviews the file and decides whether to accept representation. Learn more →
- Speed to lead
- The time between a claimant's inquiry and the firm's first contact attempt. Shorter response times generally mean higher contact and sign-up rates. Learn more →
- Statute of limitations
- The legal deadline for filing an injury lawsuit. For motor vehicle injury claims it ranges from one year to several years depending on the state. Learn more →
- TCPA
- The Telephone Consumer Protection Act — the federal law regulating marketing calls and texts, including autodialed and prerecorded calls to mobile phones. Learn more →
- UM/UIM coverage
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on the claimant's own policy, which can pay when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little.
- Warm transfer
- A live transfer where the agent stays on the line to introduce the claimant and summarize the case before dropping off, rather than connecting the call blind.
Next step
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