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
Vehicle Crush Profile and Damage Documentation
Measured, photographed documentation of vehicle deformation for adjusters, attorneys, fleet managers and vehicle owners who need the damage recorded before repair, salvage or disposal. Field personnel with accident reconstruction experience record crush depth, contact evidence and restraint condition for later analysis.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A damaged vehicle is a physical record of how it was struck: where the force arrived, from what direction, and how deep the structure gave way. That record is only useful to an analyst if it is captured with measurements, because photographs alone flatten depth. Delator Claims Division documents the damage profile against the vehicle's undamaged dimensions so that the deformation can be studied long after the vehicle has been repaired, sold at salvage auction or crushed.
The work is neutral documentation. Field personnel are licensed Tennessee private investigators with accident reconstruction experience, and they record what the vehicle shows without assigning fault or valuing the damage. The measurements, photographs and notes go to the requesting party, who may hand them to a retained analyst, an appraiser or counsel. Vehicles are documented where they sit, whether that is a tow yard, a body shop, a salvage pool or a driveway.
Situations where a damage profile matters
- A total-loss vehicle is scheduled to leave the tow yard for a salvage auction within days and nobody has measured it.
- A body shop is ready to begin teardown and the pre-repair condition of the structure needs to be recorded first.
- The parties disagree about the angle of impact and the damage pattern on both vehicles has to be compared.
- An occupant's seat belt use is in question and the webbing, latch plate and retractor have not yet been examined.
- A retained analyst needs crush measurements taken to a stated protocol but cannot travel to the storage lot in time.
What the damage record contains
- Crush depth across the damage width
- Depth measurements taken at evenly spaced stations across the full width of the damaged area, referenced to a baseline set from the vehicle's undamaged dimensions.
- Contact versus induced damage
- Direct contact areas are separated from induced damage such as buckled roof rails, shifted panel gaps and kinked frame sections remote from the point of impact.
- Paint and material transfer
- Close photographs with scale of paint transfer, rubber scuffs, plastic imprints and fabric marks, including their height above the ground and direction of smearing.
- Restraints and airbags
- Seat belt webbing, latch plates, D-rings and retractor state as found, deployed airbags, and seat positions, photographed without cutting or removing any component.
- Wheels, tires and suspension
- Wheel displacement, wheelbase change side to side, tire deflation and rim damage, and any wheel locked against bodywork that would have affected post-impact travel.
- Identification and overall views
- VIN plate, door placard, odometer where visible, and a full walk-around series at fixed angles so every close-up can be placed on the vehicle.
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 measured deformation lets an analyst establish
Crush depth recorded across the damage width describes how much of the structure was engaged and how unevenly. An analyst can use that profile, together with published stiffness data for the vehicle, to estimate the energy absorbed and from there evaluate the severity of the impact. The shape of the profile also indicates the direction the force came from. None of that work is possible from an estimate sheet or a handful of phone photographs, because neither records depth at known positions.
Separating contact damage from induced damage matters for the same reason. The contact area shows where the other vehicle or object actually touched, and its height and width can be matched against the other vehicle's bumper, hood edge or wheel. Induced damage shows how the load travelled through the body. Paint transfer and imprints tie two vehicles to each other and can show which was moving across the other at contact. Delator records these features; the analysis and any conclusions belong to the analyst.
Why the vehicle is usually lost before the dispute begins
Vehicles move through the claim system quickly. A total loss may be released to a salvage pool once the owner signs, and from there it can be sold, dismantled or exported. A repairable vehicle has its damaged panels cut out and discarded. Storage charges push everyone toward a fast decision. Questions about impact angle, speed or belt use often surface months later, after the only physical record of the collision has been straightened, parted out or shredded.
Documentation at the storage location does not stop any of that, but it preserves what the vehicle showed. Field personnel need permission from whoever controls the vehicle, and the yard's access hours govern timing. Weather exposure, yard handling and forklift moves add damage unrelated to the crash, so earlier is better and field notes record how the vehicle was stored when found. Where a vehicle has an event data recorder, its presence is noted for the party entitled to request the data.
Delator personnel have accident reconstruction experience. The work product is physical evidence and technical findings; it does not determine legal fault, which remains with the parties, the court or a jury.
Delator Claims Division is not an engineering firm. Whether any analysis is accepted in a proceeding is decided by the court.
Common questions about this service
Can you document a vehicle that has already been moved to a salvage yard?
Yes, provided the yard or the party controlling the vehicle allows access. Field personnel work within the yard's hours and rules. The notes record where and how the vehicle was stored, and any handling damage visible from towing or forklift moves, so later readers can separate it from collision damage.
Do you calculate impact speed from the crush measurements?
No. Delator records the measurements, photographs and observations in a form an analyst can work from. Delator's personnel have accident reconstruction experience, which informs what is measured and how, but speed estimates and other conclusions are the work of the analyst retained by the requesting party. Delator does not determine legal fault.
Will you remove parts or cut the seat belt to examine it?
No. The documentation is non-destructive. Belts, airbags, seats and modules are photographed and described as found and nothing is removed, cut or disassembled. If a destructive examination or component removal is needed, that is arranged separately by the parties, typically with notice to everyone who has an interest in the vehicle.
Does it help to document both vehicles?
Usually, when both are accessible. Matching the height, width and shape of damage on one vehicle to the other is how an analyst confirms the contact configuration. If only one vehicle is available, it is documented fully and the notes state plainly that the other vehicle was not examined.
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.