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
Exaggerated Injury Claims: Documented Activity vs. Restrictions
Delator Claims Division helps workers' compensation carriers, self-insured employers, third-party administrators and their counsel when reported limitations seem out of step with daily life. Investigators document observed activity and set it beside the stated restrictions. Interpretation stays with the carrier and medical professionals.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
The question in these assignments is one of degree. Nobody disputes that an injury was reported and treated. The concern is that the limitations described in work status notes or in the claimant's own account are greater than what the person appears able to do. Delator addresses that by recording specific, observable activity and laying it next to the restrictions the client supplies, item by item, without commenting on the difference.
Only the parties paying or defending the claim may retain this service. It is not offered to claimants. The words exaggeration and malingering describe the client's concern, not a finding by Delator. Investigators are not clinicians. They do not judge pain, effort, sincerity or recovery, and they do not say that an activity violates a restriction. A person can have good days and bad days, and the report reflects whatever was seen on each.
Where a side-by-side comparison helps
- A work status note limits lifting to a few pounds, and the adjuster has been told the claimant is moving furniture for a relative.
- A claimant attends appointments with a cane or brace, and the client wants to know whether the device is used on other days.
- Light-duty work within the stated restrictions has been offered and declined, and the employer wants a factual picture of current activity.
- An independent medical examination is being arranged and the examiner has asked whether any activity documentation exists for review.
- Reported symptoms have expanded to new body parts months into the claim, and counsel wants recent observation before the next hearing date.
What the comparison file contains
- Restrictions as supplied
- The limitations provided by the client, quoted exactly from the documents the client chose to share, with the date and author of each.
- Observed movements by type
- Lifting, carrying, bending, reaching overhead, kneeling, climbing and walking, each logged with duration and an estimate of the object handled.
- Assistive device use
- Whether a cane, sling, brace, boot or walker was visible, on which dates, and whether it was in use entering and leaving appointments.
- Appointment-day contrast
- Activity seen before and after a scheduled medical visit on the same day, including gait and posture described without clinical terms.
- Side-by-side table
- A two-column summary placing each stated restriction next to the dated observations that relate to it, with video time references and no commentary.
- Publicly posted activity
- Photographs or posts the claimant or others made publicly visible showing recreation, travel or physical tasks, captured with dates and web addresses.
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.
Describing movement without diagnosing it
The value of this work depends on exact description. A log entry reads: at 9:14 a.m. the subject lifted a cooler from the ground into a truck bed using both hands, then closed the tailgate with the right arm. It does not read: the subject showed full range of motion. Weights are estimated from the object, such as a bag marked forty pounds, and marked as estimates. Duration and repetition are counted from the video.
Investigators also record what cuts the other way. If the subject moved slowly, stopped to rest, held a railing or was helped by someone else, that goes in the log with the same detail. A physician reviewing the material needs the whole picture, and selective reporting would undermine the file as soon as the full footage was played. The client receives every minute recorded, not a highlight reel.
How carriers and physicians use the material
The comparison file is usually sent to the treating physician, a peer reviewer or an independent examiner with a request to consider it. That professional decides whether the activity is consistent with the restrictions, whether restrictions should change, or whether the footage is unremarkable. Some reviewers conclude the observed activity fits the diagnosis. Delator has no stake in which answer comes back and does not suggest one in the cover letter or the report.
Delator handles medical information only to the extent the client lawfully provides it for the assignment, and it does not obtain medical records on its own. If the client prefers not to share documents, the investigator can work from a short list of restrictions typed by the adjuster. Reports are delivered securely to the requesting party and are not released to anyone else without that party's direction.
This service is available to insurance carriers, self-insured entities, third-party administrators and the attorneys who represent them. Delator reports facts and observed indicators; decisions on coverage, liability, settlement and any fraud referral remain with the client.
It is not offered to policyholders or claimants, and Delator does not act as a public adjuster. Policyholders and claimants can request neutral scene documentation instead.
Common questions about this service
Do you decide whether a claimant is exaggerating?
No. Delator records what a person was observed doing and places it beside the restrictions the client provided. Whether the two are inconsistent, and what that means, is for the carrier and qualified medical professionals. The report contains no opinion on pain, effort, credibility or ability to work.
Who is allowed to request this kind of investigation?
Workers' compensation carriers, self-insured employers, third-party administrators and the attorneys who represent them. The service is not offered to injured workers or to anyone acting for them, and it is not available for personal disputes unrelated to an open claim.
Do you need the claimant's medical records?
No. The investigator needs only the specific restrictions the client wants compared, which the client supplies from records it lawfully holds. Delator does not request, subpoena or otherwise access medical records itself, and it does not review treatment notes for accuracy.
Is one day of observed activity enough?
A single day shows a single day. Many clients authorize observation on several non-consecutive days so a reviewer can see whether activity is typical or isolated. The number of days is the client's decision, and the investigator reports after each one.
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.