Prior Express Written Consent (PEWC)
A TCPA-defined standard of consent requiring a signed, written agreement that clearly authorizes autodialed or prerecorded marketing calls and texts.
Full Definition
Prior Express Written Consent (PEWC) is the FCC's heightened consent standard under TCPA for autodialed or prerecorded marketing calls and SMS to wireless numbers. To qualify, the consent must (1) be in writing, (2) include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the consumer authorizes autodialed/prerecorded marketing calls, (3) identify the seller by name, (4) state that consent is not a condition of purchase, and (5) capture the consumer's signature (electronic signatures under the E-SIGN Act count). Insurance lead vendors implement PEWC via web forms that capture IP address, timestamp, user agent, and form HTML at the moment of submission — typically via TrustedForm or Jornaya LeadID certificates. Without PEWC, autodialed outreach to purchased leads is a TCPA violation regardless of the lead's interest.
Example
A Final Expense web form includes a checkbox under the "Get Quote" button: "By submitting, I provide my electronic signature and expressly consent to receive calls and texts from [Seller Name] at the number I provided, including via autodialed and prerecorded messages, even if I am on a Do Not Call list. Consent is not a condition of purchase." The form submission generates a TrustedForm certificate.
How Agents Apply This
Agents buying leads should audit PEWC language before signing a vendor contract, not after a TCPA demand letter arrives. Pull a sample certificate, confirm your agency is named as a consented party (or that the consent is broad enough to cover a "marketing partner" arrangement your vendor will document), and save the exact consent wording in your procurement file. If a vendor cannot produce the consent language and timestamp on request, treat that vendor as uninsurable risk. Post-2024, carrier compliance teams increasingly require agents to attest in writing that all leads they dial were captured under compliant PEWC flows — a false attestation is grounds for carrier termination and commission chargeback, separate from any TCPA exposure.
Related Terms
- TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) — U.S. federal law restricting telemarketing calls, autodialed calls, prerecorded messages, and text messages without prior express written consent.
- TrustedForm — A consent-capture product from ActiveProspect that records a video-like replay of a consumer's interaction with a lead form as evidence of TCPA consent.
- Jornaya LeadID — A competing consent-capture product (now part of Verisk) that generates a unique LeadID token documenting the consumer's interaction with a lead form.
- FCC One-to-One Consent Rule — A 2024 FCC rule that requires TCPA consent to name a single seller, closing the "lead generator loophole" that allowed bundled consent across hundreds of partners.