How the Structured Intake Protocol Works

What Information to Include in a Recorded Statement

Providing comprehensive details in a recorded message improves the accuracy and speed of intake eligibility screening. Include as many of the following as possible:

• Identification: Full legal name and preferred contact phone number
• Location: California city, cross streets, highway, or specific address where the accident occurred
• Timing: Date and approximate time of the accident
• Description: Brief narrative of what happened (collision type, number of vehicles, circumstances)
• Injuries: Type and severity of injuries sustained
• Medical treatment: Whether the caller has received or is receiving medical care
• Insurance: Insurance carrier and policy information, if known
• Legal status: Whether the caller currently has an attorney for this incident

For a structured pre-call preparation guide, see the Pre-Call Checklist. Callers who have already organized their account before calling tend to give more complete statements. If you have not yet done that, the accident scene documentation guide explains exactly what to record and how to organize it.

The intake line is entirely separate from any insurance claims process. For guidance on how to distinguish the two and what to avoid saying in each context, see what not to say after an accident.

What Qualifies for Intake

Not all submissions meet intake eligibility criteria. The following conditions must be satisfied:

• The accident must have occurred within the state of California
• The caller must not currently have legal representation for the incident
• The submission must contain sufficient identifying and accident detail for screening
• The accident must involve a qualifying incident type (motor vehicle collision, pedestrian accident, premises liability, workplace injury, etc.)

Submissions that do not meet these criteria cannot be processed through the intake pipeline. See the intake eligibility criteria for the complete screening rubric, or who cannot call for a plain-language summary of exclusions. See the accepted accident types page for a breakdown by incident category.

Why Phone-Based Documentation Over Web Forms

The Structured Intake Protocol relies on phone-based recorded statements rather than online forms. This design choice reflects documented advantages of verbal reporting for accident documentation:

• Higher narrative detail: Callers providing verbal accounts typically include contextual details (weather, road conditions, witness presence) that structured form fields do not elicit
• Reduced omission rates: Free-form speech produces fewer information gaps than checkbox and dropdown interfaces
• Compliance-grade recording: Audio recordings create a timestamped, uneditable record of the caller's original statement
• Accessibility: Phone-based intake is accessible to individuals who cannot complete web forms due to injury, technology access, or language barriers

Important Disclosures

Woodoombu Accident Leads is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The intake service collects caller-submitted accident information for review. Only accidents occurring in the state of California are accepted. All calls are recorded for documentation, quality assurance, and compliance purposes.

For what to expect after leaving a recorded statement, see the After Submission page.