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
Neutral Documentation for Liability Claims
A liability claim asserts that one party is legally responsible for another's injury or damage. Delator Claims Division records the physical conditions at the place where the loss occurred, without offering any opinion on who was responsible.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
Liability claims arise from collisions, falls on premises, damage caused by a contractor's work, objects that fall or roll, and many other events. In each, the claim turns on what the conditions were and what each party did. Tennessee uses modified comparative fault, which means responsibility can be divided among the people involved, so details about the setting carry weight for everyone connected to the claim.
This service is documentation, not an investigation of fault. A licensed Tennessee private investigator photographs, videos, and measures the location and the objects involved, and writes factual notes on what was observed. The same assignment is performed the same way whether the request comes from a claimant, a property owner, an attorney, or an insurer. Carriers and their counsel who want a liability investigation can find that separate service on the carrier pages.
Circumstances that call for a neutral record
- A business owner has received a claim letter about an incident on the premises and wants current conditions recorded as they are.
- An attorney on either side needs the physical setting documented by someone with no stake in the result.
- A property manager expects a condition to be repaired soon and wants it photographed and measured before the work is done.
- Two parties describe the layout of a location differently, and a measured record would show which features are in fact there.
- A general liability adjuster needs lighting, signage, and surface conditions recorded at the same hour of day as the reported incident.
Physical conditions recorded on site
- The condition at issue
- The step, spill area, pothole, display, gate, or other feature named in the claim, photographed in context and close up with scale.
- Dimensions and elevations
- Heights, widths, slopes, gaps, and changes in level measured and recorded, so a later reviewer can compare them with whatever standard they consider relevant.
- Warnings and controls in place
- Cones, barriers, floor markings, handrails, mirrors, and warning signs present at the time of the visit, with their position relative to the condition.
- Lighting at the relevant hour
- Fixtures, their operating state, and ambient light, documented at a time of day matching the reported incident when the assignment calls for it.
- View from each person's position
- Photographs from the positions and eye heights the parties describe, showing what was in the line of sight from each.
- Signs of repair or alteration
- Fresh paint, new patches, replaced fixtures, or relocated items observed on site, recorded without comment on why the change was made.
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.
Documentation is kept separate from conclusions
In a liability claim the same photograph may be read differently by each side. For that reason Delator's field notes are limited to what can be observed and measured: what was present, where it was, how large it was, and when it was recorded. The notes do not say a condition was dangerous, that a party acted reasonably, or that one thing caused another.
That separation is what makes the record usable by more than one audience. An adjuster can compare it with statements. An attorney can give it to a consultant of their choosing. A property owner can keep it with the incident file. Fault, causation, and value are left to the people responsible for deciding them, and ultimately to the court if the claim is litigated.
Conditions at a loss location rarely stay the same
Owners fix things after an incident. A loose handrail is tightened, a parking block is moved, a light is replaced, a spill is mopped within minutes. Outdoor conditions shift with weather and season: leaves cover a walkway, vegetation grows over a sign, standing water dries. None of this is unusual, and all of it means a later visit may show a different place from the one described in the claim.
When the original condition is gone, documentation still has value. The investigator records the present state, any visible signs of repair, and fixed features that have not changed, such as the grade of a ramp or the distance between a doorway and a step. Where the scene allows, measurements are tied to permanent reference points so the layout can be drawn later.
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
Is this the same as a liability investigation?
No. This page describes neutral documentation: recording physical conditions without interviews aimed at fault or any assessment of responsibility. Liability investigation is a separate service available to insurance carriers, self-insured entities, third-party administrators, and their counsel. It is not offered to policyholders or claimants.
Will the report say whether the condition met code or a safety standard?
No. Delator is not an engineering firm and does not give opinions on codes or standards. The investigator records dimensions and conditions accurately. A consultant retained by the requesting party can compare those measurements with whatever standard applies.
Can both sides of a claim use the same documentation?
The documentation is delivered to the party that requested it, and that party decides who else receives it. Because the work is limited to observation and measurement, it reads the same regardless of who ordered it, and it contains no argument for either side.
What if the property owner will not allow access?
Delator's investigators enter private property only with permission from someone entitled to give it. Without permission, documentation is limited to what can be seen from public areas. Questions about obtaining access through the legal process are for an attorney; Delator does not advise on them.
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.