Cappers, runners and illegal accident-case solicitation

The calls, texts and knocks after a crash come from people who earn money when you sign with a particular clinic or law firm. Recruiters who are paid per person they deliver are called runners or cappers, and in many states paying or accepting that kind of fee is a crime on its own, separate from any insurance claim. Some offers are simply aggressive marketing, but a paid referral to a medical provider or lawyer is a warning sign, and it is the first step in many organized fraud rings.

This article explains the vocabulary, the statutes that California, Texas and Florida use as examples, the ethics rules that govern lawyers, how legitimate advertising differs, and what to do if someone approaches you at the scene or in a hospital. State laws differ, and the summaries below describe the statutes as read in November 2026. For the specifics of your situation, a licensed attorney or your state's fraud bureau is the right source.

Who cappers and runners are

The terms are old, and their use varies from state to state and from one prosecutor to another.

• A runner is a person who goes out and finds people with claims: at crash scenes, hospitals, repair shops, front doors. The runner is paid for each person delivered.
• A capper (sometimes "steerer") is a person who steers an injured person toward a specific professional. The word is used for someone who recruits or directs clients or patients to a lawyer, a clinic or a body shop, again for pay.
• A solicitor, in the lawyer-ethics sense, is a professional who contacts a specific person directly to ask for their business.

The common feature is payment tied to the person delivered. A friend who says, "my lawyer helped me, call her," is not a capper. A stranger who is paid $500 for each person who signs a retainer is.

California's Insurance Code section 1871.7 puts it in these words: it is unlawful to knowingly employ "runners, cappers, steerers, or other persons" to procure clients or patients to obtain services or benefits under a contract of insurance or that will be the basis for a claim against an insured or an insurer (California Insurance Code 1871.7). California's Business and Professions Code section 6152 separately makes it unlawful to act as a runner or capper for any attorney, or to solicit business for attorneys in places such as hospitals, jails, public streets and on private property (California Business and Professions Code 6152).

How they know who to call

A runner needs names. Crash information is the raw material, and a good deal of the law is about who may get it and what they may do with it.

• Crash reports. California's Vehicle Code section 20012 keeps accident reports confidential except that law enforcement must disclose them to people with a "proper interest," such as the drivers, injured persons, vehicle owners, and an attorney who declares under penalty of perjury that he or she represents one of them (California Vehicle Code 20012). A runner who is not any of those is not entitled to the report.
• Dispatch and tow records. Texas Penal Code section 38.18 makes it a Class B misdemeanor to obtain collision-report information, information from a dispatch log, a towing record or a record of a 9-1-1 service provider from the Department of Public Safety or another governmental entity and then use it for direct solicitation of business or employment for pecuniary gain (Texas Penal Code 38.18).
• Public records requests. In a 2014 New Jersey indictment, prosecutors alleged runners collected accident reports from local police stations through the state's Open Public Records Act and visited accident victims at home to steer them to chiropractic clinics (New Jersey Attorney General release, May 2014). Those were allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This explains why the call can come within days, and why it can feel as if the caller knows too much. The information was often assembled from records that were never meant to be a mailing list.

How referral fees get disguised

Nobody pays a runner by check marked "runner." The cases show a handful of ways the money is labeled.

• Marketing or management contracts. In the New Jersey case, prosecutors alleged that clinics were controlled through "management" and "marketing" companies that hid true ownership, and that one defendant's companies received payment for more than 1,000 patient and client referrals (New Jersey Attorney General release). Another pair of defendants was alleged to have paid a "marketing" company to recruit clients for their law firm.
• Per-head payments to individuals. The same release alleged runners were paid up to $1,000 for each recruited patient.
• Checks to "consultants." In a California case, bank records showed more than $250,000 in checks written to alleged cappers between 2009 and 2012, according to Insurance Journal's report of a lawyer's guilty plea (Insurance Journal, January 2014).
• Cash to the patient. In a New York case, prosecutors said staged-crash participants were paid a couple of hundred dollars each and runners a couple of thousand (Insurance Journal, March 2008).

The label does not change the analysis. California's Penal Code 549, for example, reaches any person or business that "solicits, accepts, or refers any business" knowing, or with reckless disregard for whether, the other party intends to commit insurance fraud, regardless of what the payment is called.

The statutes, side by side

These three states are examples. Every state has its own rules, and some have more than one law. Use the state car insurance requirements lookup and your state's insurance department or attorney general to find yours.

Several features of these laws are worth noticing.

They cover both ends. California's Penal Code 549 and Texas's 38.12 reach the person who pays and the person who takes. Texas also reaches a professional who knowingly accepts employment that results from a prohibited solicitation, and anyone who knowingly finances the conduct.

They work through timing. Texas draws a line at 30 days after the accident for licensed professionals, and Florida's main line is 60 days. A lawyer who contacts an accident participant on day 50 in Florida, other than through public advertising, may be committing a felony. After day 60 the same Florida subsection still bars lawyers, health care practitioners and clinic owners from in-person or telephone solicitation at a person's residence for these claims, so the end of the window does not make a cold call safe.

They attach consequences to the bill. Florida's statute says charges for services rendered by a person who violates the solicitation provision are "noncompensable and unenforceable as a matter of law" as to the person who received them. A patient who was solicited illegally may not owe the clinic that solicited them.

They have civil teeth. California's penalty is assessed for each fraudulent claim presented, and under the statute an insurer or any interested person may bring the action in the state's name, with the district attorney or commissioner able to take over (California Insurance Code 1871.7). That is one reason insurers' fraud units pursue these cases.

California adds a rule aimed at the hospital bed. Under Business and Professions Code 6152(b), a general release of a liability claim obtained during the first physical confinement for the injury, and signed within 15 days of confinement starting or before release, whichever is first, is presumed fraudulent (California Business and Professions Code 6152). Other states have comparable "cooling off" rules, but they vary, so ask.

Lawyer ethics rules versus crimes

Separate from the criminal statutes are the rules of professional conduct that every state bar adopts for lawyers. Most states follow the American Bar Association's Model Rules in some form, and each state writes its own version, so the wording and exceptions differ.

North Carolina's Rule 7.3, which tracks the ABA model, shows the usual structure. It defines solicitation as "a communication initiated by the lawyer that is directed to a specific person," and says a lawyer shall not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact when a significant motive is the lawyer's pecuniary gain. The exceptions cover contact with another lawyer, with a person who has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer, and with a person who routinely uses such services for business. The rule also bars solicitation where the target has said they do not want it, or where it involves coercion, duress or harassment. Its commentary explains why: a person who needs legal services may already be overwhelmed by the circumstances, and in-person contact creates a potential for overreaching (North Carolina Rule 7.3).

Three things follow:

1. An ethics violation is not necessarily a crime, but in some states the criminal statute incorporates the rules. Texas's section 38.12 says it is an exception to prosecution that the conduct is authorized by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct or any rule of court, and it says a final conviction of felony barratry is a "serious crime" under the State Bar rules.
2. Paying someone else to do what the lawyer may not do directly is the core of the runner problem. A rule against live solicitation means little if a paid non-lawyer can knock on the door.
3. The license is at stake. A lawyer convicted of capper-related crimes faces discipline in addition to the sentence. In the California case above, the lawyer pleaded guilty to 43 felony counts of using cappers and, according to the report, received one year in jail, three years of felony probation and a $91,000 fine.

From recruitment to fraud ring

A paid referral system rewards volume, and volume is where fraud begins. Once a clinic or firm is paying per head, three things tend to follow.

• Treatment expands to fit the fee. The paid referral has to be recouped from insurance, so a patient who needed two visits is scheduled for twenty.
• The injured person becomes a participant. A patient who is paid cash or given a ride and a free visit is part of a claim that may be false.
• Crashes themselves can be manufactured. In the 2008 New York case, prosecutors said runners staged fake crashes using rented cars and brought the supposedly injured people to a clinic, alleging that the enterprise took more than $6.2 million over about five years (Insurance Journal, March 2008). The article on phantom passengers and paper accidents: how inflated claims work explains how such claims are built, and No-fault medical mill fraud: what New York's rules aim to stop covers one state's response.

The consequences for the participants are real. The statutes above reach people who solicit or accept the business, and the underlying fraud statutes reach anyone who knowingly presents a false claim; California's Penal Code 550, for example, makes it unlawful to knowingly present a false or fraudulent claim or to prepare a writing in support of one. Insurers refer suspected rings to their special investigations units and to fraud bureaus; how an insurance fraud case is prosecuted from referral to sentence follows a case from referral to sentence.

Telling marketing from capping

Not every contact after a crash is illegal, and some are normal. The test is who is paying whom, and who started the contact.

Public advertising is distinguished in the statutes themselves. Florida's 60-day rule exempts advertising directed to the public, and Texas's section 38.12 excepts conduct authorized by the disciplinary rules. A lawyer's ad on television is not a violation. A lawyer's employee calling you at 7 p.m. two days after the crash, using the police report, may be.

What to do if you are approached

Say a driver is rear-ended on Tuesday evening and taken to the emergency room. On Thursday a stranger arrives at her door, says he can get her "the best chiropractor in town," offers $300 in cash just for coming in and a ride, and asks her to sign a form on the spot. These details are hypothetical. Here is a sensible response.

1. Do not sign or accept anything. Not an assignment, a retainer, a release or an intake form. Taking cash can make you part of the claim.
2. Ask who the person works for and who pays them. A real office has a name, an address and a license number. A refusal to answer is information.
3. Get the name, the company and a phone number, then end the contact. You do not owe a reply to a caller who contacted you.
4. Note the date, time and place. Texas and Florida draw lines by days since the accident, and the date is evidence in either state.
5. Choose your own doctor and, if you want one, your own lawyer. Your state bar can confirm that a lawyer is licensed and in good standing, and when to hire a lawyer after a car accident explains what to ask.
6. Tell your own insurer you were contacted. If you have medical payments or personal injury protection, your insurer can tell you how those benefits are billed.
7. Report the contact. In California, the Department of Insurance accepts consumer fraud reports through an online form, and it says members of the public may report anonymously; its Fraud Division handles fraud by consumers and organized groups against insurers (California Department of Insurance). Other states have fraud bureaus too; how to report insurance fraud and state insurance fraud bureaus: who investigates and how to reach them list how to find yours, and The National Insurance Crime Bureau explained describes the industry's investigative group.

If you already accepted a ride, a visit or money, you are not necessarily guilty of anything, but stop, keep your records and speak to an attorney before signing further papers or giving statements. Treatment you actually received for a real injury, billed truthfully, is a different thing from a package built around a referral.

Questions to ask a provider or firm that contacted you

• How did you get my name and number?
• Who pays you or your company for this contact?
• Is anything of value being offered to me for signing up?
• Can I take the paperwork home, read it and call back?
• Who is the licensed professional responsible for my care or my case?
• Will I owe anything if I decide not to go ahead?

An ethical practice answers plainly. A vague answer is a reason to hang up.

Common questions

Is a lawyer calling me after a crash always illegal?

No, but the rules limit when and how. Many states restrict live telephone and in-person contact, and some set waiting periods, such as 30 days for licensed professionals in Texas and 60 days in Florida's felony provision. A letter or a public ad is treated differently from a call or visit. Check your state bar's rules and statute.

Can my doctor recommend a lawyer, or my lawyer recommend a doctor?

A recommendation is not itself the offense in the statutes read here. The offense is paying or taking something of value for the referral, or violating a solicitation rule. California's Insurance Code 750, for instance, targets those who offer or accept "rebate, refund, commission, or other consideration" for referrals. A professional who refers you should be able to say whether they receive anything.

Does this apply to body shops and tow operators?

The same logic applies. Paying a tow driver for each customer delivered, or a shop paying a "finder's fee," creates the same conflict of interest, and the rules on towing and repair referrals vary by state. See predatory towing and body shop scams.

What if I only took a ride to the clinic?

Accepting a ride is not necessarily a crime, but a ride and free services offered as a lure are part of the pattern. Keep records, get independent medical care if you need it, and talk to a licensed attorney if you are unsure where you stand.

Will reporting a runner get me in trouble?

Many states protect people who report suspected fraud in good faith, and some let reports be anonymous, as California's department says it does. The details differ by state, and mandatory fraud reporting and immunity laws for insurers explains the pattern. Report facts you saw and heard, not accusations.

Key takeaways

• Runners and cappers are paid per person they steer to a clinic or law firm, and paying or accepting that fee is a crime in many states, as California Penal Code 549 and Texas Penal Code 38.12 show.
• Their lists come from crash reports, dispatch logs and tow records, and some states restrict who may get those records and how they may be used for solicitation.
• Payments are disguised as marketing, management or consulting fees; the law looks at what the payment buys, not what it is called.
• Lawyer ethics rules restrict live solicitation of accident victims, and public advertising is treated differently from personal contact.
• If approached, sign nothing, take nothing of value, write down who contacted you and when, choose your own providers, and report the contact to your state's fraud bureau.