Live Transfer Return Policies: What's Refundable

What a live transfer return policy should cover

A live transfer return policy is the part of your vendor agreement that says when a transferred call comes off your bill. A return (some vendors call it a credit) is a request to remove a charge because the call did not meet the criteria you agreed on.

The price per transfer gets most of the attention. The return policy decides how many bad-fit calls you pay for anyway. A fair policy answers six things in writing.

• Which calls can be returned. Most policies cover only some calls, often set by how long the call lasted.
• The reasons, by line. A bad auto transfer and a bad home transfer are wrong for different reasons.
• The window. Hours, days, or a billing period, and when the clock starts.
• Who decides. Whether returns are approved automatically or reviewed, and by whom.
• How you get the money back. A credit to your balance, a cash refund, or a replacement.
• The limits. Caps on how many you can return, and reasons that never qualify.

Also ask how you check a call before you send it back. Without a recording, a return comes down to your word against the vendor's.

What lead vendors typically accept and refuse

Few live transfer vendors publish a full return policy. The large internet lead marketplaces do publish theirs, mostly for web leads (a name and contact details from an online quote form). They are still a useful baseline, because they show what the industry treats as a bad lead. Here is what four vendors' own pages said when we checked in September 2026.

What these policies accept

• Contact details that are fake or do not work, such as disconnected or wrong numbers
• A lead that does not match the filters you set, such as the wrong area
• A duplicate of a lead you already bought recently
• A prospect already insured with the captive carrier you represent (SmartFinancial lists this one)

What these policies refuse

• The prospect already bought from another agent or company
• The carrier's underwriting rules turned the risk down
• The agent did not write a policy
• An unanswered call that went to voicemail
• Anything over a monthly cap (EverQuote and MediaAlpha both use 20%)

The pattern is consistent. Vendors take back leads that were wrong when they arrived. They do not take back leads that were a fit and simply did not turn into a sale. A fair live transfer policy should work the same way, with the reasons spelled out for each line you buy.

How InsureScales returns work

Our returns start with the clock. Answered calls are timed from the first ring at your agency. Ringing counts. Our screening before the transfer does not. Every answered transfer falls into one of three bands.

Returns only apply to the middle band. A call under 75 seconds is never billed, so there is nothing to return. At 5 minutes or longer, the prospect has had a real conversation with your producer, and ordinary lead-quality returns no longer apply.

Auto return reasons

• No vehicle, or no valid driver's license
• No auto insurance now, or a coverage lapse in the past 6 months
• Already insured with a carrier your campaign agreement excludes
• Lives outside your agreed licensed states
• Has or needs an SR-22

These reasons follow from who our callers look for on auto insurance live transfers, which is car owners in your states who want an auto quote.

Home return reasons

• Does not own or co-own the home
• The home is outside your agreed licensed area
• The home is insured with a carrier your campaign agreement excludes

Any extra home criteria have to be agreed in writing. There are no default property-type or ZIP code limits.

Renters and home-and-auto transfers

There is no return rule for renters transfers. They follow the same timing rules as every other answered transfer, so a renters call under 75 seconds is never billed. When a prospect wants home and auto quoted together, these rules apply.

• If the home qualifies, the transfer is billed in full, even if the auto side does not qualify or no quote gets finished.
• If the home does not qualify and only one vehicle qualifies, you get a single-vehicle billing adjustment.

Our home and auto live transfer page walks through how bundled transfers are billed.

Timing, review, and settlement

• Send returns the same day when you can.
• Returns are accepted through the end of that billing week.
• Our quality team reviews every return. Only approved returns come off your bill.
• Billing and approved returns are settled by the end of each week.

Why "we didn't quote them" isn't a return

This rule can feel strict, so here is the reasoning. Every reason on the lists above describes a transfer that was wrong when it arrived. The prospect had no car, did not own the home, or lived outside your states.

A prospect you chose not to quote may have been a good fit for a different carrier or a different agency's appetite. Whether you quote depends on your carriers, your pricing, and your producer. Our callers cannot see or control any of that. The vendor policies above follow the same logic when they refuse returns because the agent did not write a policy or the carrier declined the risk.

If a whole group of prospects never fits your book, tell us before you start. It is easier to rule them out up front than to return calls one by one. For example, if you cannot write against a certain carrier, list it as excluded in your campaign agreement. A prospect already insured with an excluded carrier is then a valid auto or home return.

How to send a return that gets approved

1. 1

   Listen to the recording first

   Every transfer is in your client portal with a recording. Find the part of the call where the prospect said the thing that rules them out.
2. 2

   Match it to a listed reason

   Pick the reason from the auto or home list. A return that just says "bad lead" is hard for anyone to review.
3. 3

   Send it from the portal the same day

   Returns are accepted through the end of that billing week, but the same day is best while the call is fresh for everyone.
4. 4

   Check the weekly settlement

   Our quality team reviews every return. Approved returns come off your bill when billing is settled at the end of the week.

Questions to ask any vendor about returns

Use these alongside our billable live transfer checklist, which covers the counting rules.

• Which calls can be returned, by call length?
• What are the return reasons for each line I buy, in writing?
• How long is the window, and does it run in hours, days, or billing periods?
• Who reviews returns, and can an approved return be reversed later?
• Is there a monthly cap on returns?
• Do returns come back as a balance credit, a cash refund, or a replacement call?
• Can I hear the recording of every call before I decide?
• What never qualifies, such as voicemail, no sale, or no quote?

Then weigh the answers against the price. A cheap transfer with a policy that refuses most returns can cost more per policy than a pricier one with clear reasons. Our guide to what live transfer leads cost shows how to run that math, and our full rules are on the pricing and billing rules page. This is a plain-English summary. Your service agreement controls if anything here differs.