Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Car Accident Scene and Vehicle Documentation
Delator Claims Division sends licensed Tennessee private investigators to photograph, measure and record passenger car collisions and the vehicles involved. The work is neutral documentation for insurance carriers, attorneys, and drivers who need a factual record before repairs or weather erase it.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
Most passenger car claims are settled from a handful of phone photos taken at the roadside, usually close-ups of the worst damage and little else. What is missing tends to matter later: the approach each driver had, the lane markings, where glass and plastic fell, and the lesser contact points on each car. A sedan or SUV also goes to a body shop quickly, and once panels are replaced the original damage pattern exists only in whatever was photographed.
A DCD investigator documents the scene and each available vehicle in a consistent sequence, with timestamps, scale references and written field notes. Tennessee uses modified comparative fault, so the allocation of fault between drivers affects the outcome of a claim, and physical evidence is the part of the file that does not depend on memory. We record what is there. We do not assign fault, estimate repair cost or value the claim.
Situations where a car crash record helps
- Two drivers describe the same lane change or turn differently and the police report does not settle which account fits the damage.
- A car is scheduled for repair or salvage auction and the damage pattern needs to be recorded before panels are removed.
- An adjuster handling a file from another state needs current photographs of a Tennessee crash location and the vehicle in storage.
- An attorney taking a case weeks after the crash wants the roadway, signage and sightlines recorded as they stand today.
- A driver without counsel wants a dated, organized record of the damage to their own car to submit with a claim.
What the investigator records on a passenger car
- Exterior damage, all four sides
- Overall, mid-range and close photographs of every side of the car, including undamaged panels, so the extent and limits of contact are both shown.
- Paint transfer and contact height
- Transferred paint, rubber and plastic on bumpers, doors and fenders, photographed with a scale and measured from the ground to show where the vehicles met.
- Airbags, belts and seat positions
- Deployed airbags, seat belt condition and latch position, and seat and head restraint settings as found, photographed without adjusting anything in the cabin.
- Wheels and lamp housings
- Tread, sidewall and wheel damage at each corner, and the condition of head lamps, brake lamps and turn signal housings as found after the collision.
- Debris field and fluid trails
- Glass, trim fragments and coolant or oil trails on the pavement, located by measurement to a fixed reference such as a curb line or utility pole.
- Driver approach views
- Photographs from each driver's approach at seated eye height, taken at set distances, showing signs, signals, parked cars and vegetation along the way.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
What is lost between the tow and the body shop
The roadway clears first. Debris is swept to the gutter within the hour, fluid stains fade after a few days of traffic or one rainfall, and light tire marks from a passenger car can be gone inside a week. The car follows. A storage lot may move it with a forklift, adding damage that was not there at the crash, and a repair shop will cut away the bumper cover, reinforcement bar and fenders that carried the contact evidence.
Early documentation separates crash damage from handling damage and prior damage. Rust inside a dent, old filler, and faded scrape marks point to something that predates the collision, and we photograph those conditions as carefully as the fresh ones. The record also captures the things nobody thinks to photograph at the roadside: the odometer and warning lamps where the car can be powered, child seat placement, and the contents thrown forward in the cabin.
How carriers, attorneys and drivers use the record
Adjusters use the package to compare each driver's statement against contact points and scene layout, and to answer liability questions without sending staff across the state. Attorneys on either side use it as a neutral baseline that an expert or the opposing party can review. Because the photographs follow a fixed sequence with notes on where each was taken, a reader who was never at the scene can follow the file from the approach to the point of rest.
For a policyholder, claimant or self-represented driver, the service stops at documentation. DCD does not negotiate with an insurer, give an opinion on what the car is worth, or advise on how to pursue the claim. Insurance carriers and their counsel may separately retain Delator for investigative work, which is described on the carrier pages of this site. On a neutral assignment the deliverable is the same regardless of who ordered it.
On this assignment Delator field personnel record what is physically present: photographs, video, measurements and factual notes. They do not adjust, appraise or value the loss, do not determine coverage, cause or fault, and do not represent any party to the claim.
Delator Claims Division is not a law firm, an insurer or an engineering firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Common questions about this service
The car has already been towed. Is it still worth documenting?
Yes. The vehicle can be documented at the tow yard, storage lot or body shop with the owner's or facility's permission, and the crash location can be photographed separately. The scene record will show the roadway as it is now, and our notes state how much time has passed since the collision.
Do you tell me who was at fault?
No. On a documentation assignment we record physical conditions and do not determine fault, causation or value. The photographs, measurements and notes are given to the requesting party, and any conclusion about responsibility is left to the insurer, the attorneys or the court.
Can you document the other driver's car as well?
Only where we have lawful access. If the other car is on public view, or its owner, insurer or the storage facility permits it, we photograph it the same way. We do not enter private property without permission, and our notes state which vehicles were and were not available.
How quickly can someone get to a crash that just happened?
Dispatch runs at all hours. Emergency deployment puts an investigator on site in 30 minutes to 4 hours, Rush in 12 to 20 hours and Routine in 1 to 2 days. Metro areas average under 60 minutes, and the four-hour statewide deployment guarantee covers every Tennessee county.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.