MVA Leads in New York

New York accident law facts your intake should know

• Filing deadline: 3 years from the date of the accident for personal injury claims (CPLR section 214(5)). Claims against a government entity carry a much shorter notice of claim deadline, generally 90 days, so a city bus, police vehicle, or municipal truck case needs attention immediately even inside the 3 years.
• Fault system: No-fault. Every vehicle must carry personal injury protection, described in words only here: a per person benefit that pays the insured’s own medical bills, a portion of lost wages, and other necessary expenses regardless of fault. The client’s own policy pays first for those benefits. An injured person can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering only if the injury meets the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law section 5102(d). Note the 2026 change: amendments effective May 26, 2026 eliminated the 90/180-day category of serious injury, so threshold analysis for newer cases runs on the remaining categories.
• Negligence rule: Read this carefully, because New York changed it in 2026 and many older sources are now wrong. For motor vehicle cases under Insurance Law Article 51, New York now follows modified comparative negligence with a bar at more than 50% fault (CPLR section 1411(b), effective May 26, 2026 for actions commenced on or after that date): a claimant who is more than 50% at fault recovers nothing in the lawsuit, while a claimant at 50% or less recovers reduced by their share of fault, measured against the defendant or the combined fault of all defendants. No-fault personal injury protection benefits are not affected by this bar, and wrongful death actions remain under the pure comparative rule. Other personal injury cases outside motor vehicle law still follow pure comparative negligence. Historically New York was pure comparative for auto cases, allowing recovery even at 99% fault, but that description is outdated for auto cases filed on or after May 26, 2026. The filing date and the case type therefore matter on every screen.
• Minimum insurance: New York drivers must carry at least 25/50/10 liability coverage: $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $10,000 for property damage, plus personal injury protection described in words only above. Limits are higher where the injury results in death, described in words only here. Uninsured motorist coverage is also required.

The three ways to buy New York MVA leads

Pricing is set per state and market rather than published here, because a qualified lead in New York City does not cost what a qualified lead in a smaller New York city costs. Tell us your markets and criteria and we will quote New York pricing for your firm.

How every New York case is screened

• Accident happened within the last year
• Fault position established against the motor vehicle rule for cases filed on or after May 26, 2026: at 50% or less the case still has value, at more than 50% it does not, measured against the defendant or all defendants combined
• Injuries confirmed, with treatment started or a first appointment scheduled
• Serious injury threshold position checked: the case must be able to meet the Insurance Law section 5102(d) threshold, under the categories as amended in 2026, or it is not a pain and suffering case
• Insurance coverage verified on both sides, including personal injury protection on the client’s own policy and uninsured motorist coverage
• No prior attorney on the case
• Signed paperwork where the product calls for it

Clients can be English or Spanish speaking. If your firm only takes English speaking clients, or only certain injury types, or only accidents within the last six months instead of a year, say so. The screening runs on your criteria, not a national template.

What happens in the first five minutes decides what a lead is worth

The best lead in New York is worth nothing if it sits in a queue for two days. Accident victims who ask for help talk to the first firm that reaches them like a professional, and they sign with the firm that treats the call like it matters. When your team works our leads, this is the sequence that signs cases:

1. Speed first. Call within five minutes of delivery where you possibly can. After an hour, you are competing with every firm the victim found on Google while they waited.
2. Confirm the screen. Fault, injuries, treatment, insurance, threshold position. If anything contradicts what we delivered, note it. That is replacement protection territory, and it is how we keep the screening honest.
3. Book the next step on the call. Consultation, records requests, treatment follow-up. A lead that ends with “we will be in touch” is a lead that signs somewhere else.
4. Work the follow-up like a system. Texts and calls on a set cadence for the first week. Most signings do not happen on the first conversation.

The math that tells you if New York leads are working

Forget cost per lead. The only number that matters is your cost per signed case, and you can work it out with your own figures:

• Take what you spent on leads in a month.
• Divide it by the number of cases those leads signed.

That is your cost per signed case. Compare it with your average fee on a settled New York MVA case and the share of that fee your firm can spend on acquisition. If leads sign at a cost your fees comfortably cover, the channel works and the argument is over. If they do not, the fix is usually one of three things: the criteria are too loose, the intake follow-up is too slow, or the product is wrong for your team. Firms with a thin intake bench usually do better skipping leads entirely and buying signed retainers, which is why we sell both.

Mistakes New York firms make when buying leads

Buying on price alone. The cheapest lead in New York is usually cheap because it was sold four times, generated from a sweepstakes page, or screened by nobody. A lead that costs half as much and signs a quarter as often is the expensive lead.

Screening New York leads under the old pure comparative rule. New York auto cases filed on or after May 26, 2026 are no longer pure comparative: a claimant more than 50% at fault recovers nothing. A provider still screening New York leads as if 99% fault recovers is sending your intake cases that current law will kill. Fault position has to be checked against the 2026 rule, and the filing date has to be part of the screen.

Ignoring the serious injury threshold. New York is no-fault: a client whose injuries never meet the Insurance Law section 5102(d) threshold has no pain and suffering claim against the at-fault driver, no matter how real the accident was. A provider that screens New York leads without a threshold check sends your intake cases that cannot become claims. Threshold position has to be checked before delivery, not discovered on the first call.

Missing the government notice deadline. The 3 years filing window is long, but a claim against a government entity generally needs a notice of claim within 90 days. A city vehicle case that sits in intake for months can lose its procedural window while the filing deadline still looks open.

Forgetting the minimum limits problem. A not-at-fault client with a treated injury is still a weak case if the other driver carries only the state minimum and no assets, and your client carries no underinsured motorist coverage. Insurance verification has to check both sides of the crash, which is why it sits in our screen.

Slow follow-up. Most lead waste is not bad leads. It is good leads called once, two days late, by a firm that then blames the source.

No replacement terms in writing. If a provider will not put exclusivity and replacement terms in writing before you pay, you have learned the most important thing about that provider.

How to vet any New York lead provider, including us

Ask these before you wire money:

• Are the leads exclusive to my firm, in writing?
• What exactly is screened before delivery, and can I set my own criteria?
• How is the serious injury threshold position checked, given New York’s no-fault system and the 2026 amendment?
• How is fault position confirmed, given the 2026 more-than-50% bar for motor vehicle cases filed on or after May 26, 2026?
• Is insurance verified on both drivers, including personal injury protection and uninsured motorist coverage on the client’s own policy?
• What happens when a lead fails my criteria? Is there replacement protection, and how many days do I get?
• Can Spanish speaking clients be delivered, and can I filter by language?
• How are leads delivered, and how fast after the accident victim asks for help?

A provider who answers all eight clearly is worth a test order. A provider who dodges two or more is telling you how the test order will go.

New York markets we cover

New York City is the largest New York market by far, with Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany as the other main markets, and we deliver statewide, including the smaller cities and rural counties between them. The New York City metro brings steadier volume and the fiercest competition. The upstate markets bring less competition for each accident victim’s attention. Many firms run a mix: metro volume for the team that can handle it, smaller markets for steady signings at a calmer pace. Tell us the counties and metros you want covered and we will build to that map.