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
Documentation for Employer and Work Vehicle Accidents
Delator Claims Division documents collisions involving employees driving for work, in company pickups, pool cars, or their own vehicles, for employers, risk managers, self-insured entities, their carriers, and counsel throughout Tennessee.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
When an employee is in a collision during the workday, the employer usually learns about it from a phone call and a few phone photographs. The questions that follow are practical. Which vehicle was it and who owns it. What was in it. Where was it headed. Records such as time entries, work orders and mileage logs sit with the employer. The vehicle and the roadside are the parts that can be lost.
Delator sends a licensed Tennessee private investigator to record the vehicle and scene as found. That includes details that are particular to work use: ladder racks and toolboxes, magnetic door signs, materials in the bed, a job folder on the seat. The field notes describe what was observed. They do not state whether the employee was acting within the job at the time, which is a question for the carrier, counsel, or a court.
Situations employers bring to us
- An employee driving a personal vehicle on a work errand is in a collision and two different insurers are asking questions.
- A take-home pickup is damaged after hours and the employer wants the vehicle and its contents recorded before it is repaired.
- A crew truck carrying several coworkers is struck and the employer needs seating positions and restraint condition documented while the vehicle is unchanged.
- A pool car has no assigned driver log and the employer wants its condition and interior documented alongside the sign-out sheet it holds.
- A salesperson's vehicle is hit in a customer's lot and neither the property owner nor police produced a report.
What gets recorded on a work vehicle
- Ownership and markings
- Registration plate, VIN, door lettering, magnetic signs, fleet decals and any personal-use indicators, photographed to show how the vehicle presented on the road.
- Work contents and load
- Tools, ladders, materials, samples or parcels in the cab, bed or cargo area, including how they were secured and whether anything shifted.
- Racks and added equipment
- Ladder racks, toolboxes, hitch-mounted carriers, light bars and aftermarket bumpers, with attention to anything that extends past the factory body or affects sightlines.
- Seating and restraints
- Seat positions, belt webbing condition, deployed airbags and the location of each occupant as reported, recorded before the interior is disturbed.
- Route context
- The collision location in relation to the nearest job site, shop, customer address or yard the employer identifies, shown on a simple reference map.
- Paperwork in plain view
- Work orders, delivery tickets, parking stubs or fuel receipts visible in the vehicle, photographed in place and left where they were found.
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.
Work use leaves physical traces
A vehicle used for work rarely looks like a commuter car. There is a conduit bender behind the seat, a cooler of samples in the trunk, a stack of delivery tickets on the dash, or a company phone in a cradle. These details help others piece together what the trip was for, and they are usually cleared out within a day when the vehicle goes to a body shop or the employee empties it. Photographing them in place, with timestamps, keeps that context available.
Delator does not interpret those details. The notes will say that a work order dated that morning was on the passenger seat, not that the driver was on the clock. The employer's own records, such as time entries, dispatch texts, and mileage reimbursement forms, stay with the employer. The report lists which of those records the employer says exist, so that an adjuster or attorney reviewing the file knows what else to ask for.
Personal vehicles, take-home units and who requests the work
Collisions in an employee's own vehicle raise the most questions, because the personal auto carrier, the employer's carrier, and sometimes a workers' compensation administrator all need the same basic facts. A single neutral record of the vehicle, the scene and the visible contents can be shared with each of them. Take-home units raise a different issue: the vehicle is often parked at a residence, so Delator arranges access with the employer and the employee before anyone arrives.
Requests usually come from a risk manager, a human resources or safety lead, a carrier, or defense counsel. Employers, carriers, self-insured entities and their attorneys may also retain Delator for investigative work beyond documentation, such as voluntary recorded statements from the driver and coworker passengers. An injured employee or another motorist who contacts Delator directly receives neutral documentation only, with no advice about the claim.
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
Can you document an employee's personal vehicle?
Yes, with the employee's cooperation, since the vehicle belongs to the employee. The investigator photographs the exterior, interior and any work items in view, and does not open closed bags or containers. If the employee declines, Delator can still document the scene and any other vehicle the requesting party has authority over.
Will the report say whether the employee was on the job?
No. That is a legal and coverage question for the carrier, counsel or a court. The report records observable facts, such as the load, the paperwork in view, and where the collision occurred relative to locations the employer identifies. Delator does not give legal advice.
Can you take statements from coworkers who were passengers?
For employers, carriers, self-insured entities, third-party administrators and their counsel, yes. Statements are voluntary and recorded with the person's knowledge. On a neutral documentation assignment the investigator notes who was reported to be in each seat and gathers contact details that occupants are willing to provide.
The vehicle is already at a body shop. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. If repairs have not started, the vehicle can be documented at the shop with the shop's permission. If parts have been removed, the investigator photographs the removed parts where they are still on hand and notes the stage of repair. The collision location can be documented separately.
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.