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
First-Party Insurance Claim Documentation in Tennessee
A first-party claim is one a policyholder makes under their own policy. Delator Claims Division documents the physical condition of the insured vehicle or property so the policyholder, their attorney, or the carrier is working from a dated factual record.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
In a first-party claim the insured asks their own insurer to pay under coverage they purchased: collision, comprehensive, homeowners, commercial property, or similar. The question is usually not who caused the loss but what was damaged, to what extent, and when. Those are physical questions, and the answers are clearest in the first days, before repairs, cleanup, tarping, or towing change what can be seen.
Delator sends a licensed Tennessee private investigator to photograph, video, and measure the insured item as it sits. For policyholders and their attorneys this is neutral documentation only. We do not adjust the claim, estimate repair cost, interpret the policy, or negotiate with the insurer. Carriers and third-party administrators use the same field record when a desk adjuster needs eyes on a loss in any of Tennessee's 95 counties.
When a first-party claim needs a field record
- A homeowner wants the damage recorded before a mitigation crew removes drywall, flooring, or contents that the insurer has not yet inspected.
- A collision claim is open and the vehicle is about to leave the tow yard for a body shop that will begin teardown.
- The carrier's inspection is scheduled days out and the insured wants an independent dated record of the condition in the meantime.
- A policyholder's attorney needs photographs showing the full extent of loss, organized by room or by vehicle panel, for the claim file.
- A desk adjuster handling a first-party loss remotely needs field photographs and measurements from a county with no staff appraiser nearby.
What goes into the record
- Condition before repair or cleanup
- The insured vehicle or property photographed as found, with overview, mid-range, and close views recorded before any repair, demolition, or disposal begins.
- Extent and boundaries of damage
- Where the damage starts and stops: affected rooms, elevations, panels, or components, shown with scale references and measurements where the setting allows.
- Unaffected areas
- Adjacent rooms, surfaces, and items that show no damage, photographed so the record reflects the whole condition and not only the affected parts.
- Identifying details
- The plate and vehicle identification number, or the property address, visible serial plates, and model labels, so the photographs are tied to the insured item.
- Temporary measures already taken
- Tarps, board-up, drying equipment, or emergency repairs in place at the time of the visit, noted with the date they were observed.
- Damaged contents and removed materials
- Items set aside, debris piles, and removed materials still on site, photographed before disposal when the policyholder has kept them.
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.
Why the record is made before the property changes
First-party losses change quickly for practical reasons. Water-damaged material is removed to stop further harm, a roof is tarped, a vehicle is moved from the roadside to a storage lot and then to a shop. Each step is reasonable, and each one alters what a later inspector can see. A set of timestamped photographs and video taken before those steps gives everyone who later reviews the claim the same starting point.
The field visit is organized so someone who was never there can follow it. Photographs run from the street or lot inward, then area by area, with each close view tied to a wider one. Field notes record what was observed, the date and time, and the conditions, without opinions on cause, coverage, or cost. Files are delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
How policyholders, attorneys, and carriers use it
Disagreements in first-party claims tend to be about scope: whether a given room, panel, or item was affected, and what it looked like before work started. Delator does not resolve those disagreements. The documentation gives the policyholder, the adjuster, a contractor, or an appraiser selected by either side a common factual record to work from, and each of them reaches their own conclusions.
Policyholders and their attorneys receive neutral documentation and nothing more. Delator is not a public adjuster, does not value losses, and does not speak to the insurer on an insured's behalf. Insurance carriers, self-insured entities, and third-party administrators may retain Delator separately for field adjusting or claim investigation; that work is described on the carrier pages and is not offered to policyholders or claimants.
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 Delator tell me what my claim is worth?
No. On assignments for policyholders, Delator documents physical condition only. We do not estimate repair costs, value property, or give an opinion on what an insurer owes. The photographs, video, measurements, and notes can be given to the contractor, appraiser, or attorney you choose, who can form their own conclusions.
Will you deal with my insurance company for me?
No. Negotiating or adjusting a claim on behalf of a policyholder is public adjusting, which requires a Tennessee license Delator does not hold, and it is not a service we offer. We deliver the documentation to you or your attorney, and you decide how it is used.
How soon can someone document the damage?
Dispatch runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Routine assignments place an investigator on site in one to two days, Rush in 12 to 20 hours, and Emergency in 30 minutes to four hours. A four-hour statewide deployment guarantee applies across all 95 Tennessee counties.
Does the documentation say whether the loss is covered?
No. Coverage is decided by the insurer under the policy, and questions about policy language belong with an attorney. Delator's notes describe what was physically present on the date of the visit. They do not address cause of loss, coverage, exclusions, or the amount of the claim.
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.