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
Premises Incident Scene Documentation for Tennessee Claims
Neutral photographs, video and measurements of the place where a person was hurt or property was damaged on someone else's premises. Used by property owners, carriers, attorneys and injured parties who need the physical conditions recorded before they change.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A premises incident is any event tied to the condition of a property: a fall on a stairway, merchandise coming off a shelf, a gate or door striking someone, an injury in a poorly lit parking structure. What these claims have in common is that the property stays in use. Stairs get repaired, displays are restocked, bulbs are replaced and the area is back to normal within days, sometimes within hours.
Delator Claims Division sends a licensed Tennessee private investigator to record the location as it stands: dimensions, condition, lighting, warnings and the surrounding layout. The same visit can include a canvass for cameras that may have covered the area. The work is observational. Delator does not decide whether the property was unreasonably dangerous, whether the owner knew about a condition, or how responsibility is divided between the parties.
Where a premises record earns its keep
- A visitor is injured on an exterior stairway and the owner's maintenance staff is already scheduled to replace the damaged treads.
- Stacked merchandise or a display fixture falls in a retail aisle, and the store intends to reset the area before the next business day.
- An incident occurs after dark in an apartment parking area, and the working condition of each light fixture that night is in question.
- A liability carrier receives a claim weeks after the event and needs to know what the location looks like and whether anything has been altered.
- A property manager wants an independent record of a common area immediately after an incident report is filed by a tenant or guest.
Physical conditions recorded at the location
- Stairs, ramps and handrails
- Riser height and tread depth at several steps, ramp slope readings, handrail height and whether rails are secure, loose or missing, each shown with a tape or level.
- Illumination at the reported hour
- Photographs taken at the time of day of the incident, a fixture-by-fixture note of which lights were working, and light meter readings where the assignment calls for them.
- Doors, gates and thresholds
- Closers, hinges, automatic door sensors, gate tracks and raised thresholds, photographed in operation and at rest, with any visible damage or adjustment stickers noted.
- Shelving, fixtures and overhead items
- How merchandise, signage or fixtures are stacked, anchored or suspended at the incident location, including shelf heights, restraints and anything visibly displaced.
- Approach path and sightlines
- The route a person would take to reach the location, photographed from standing eye height in the direction of travel, showing what was and was not visible.
- Maintenance and repair indicators
- Fresh paint, new hardware, patched concrete, replaced bulbs or barricades that suggest the area was changed after the event, recorded without drawing conclusions from 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.
Premises conditions rarely stay the way they were
Property owners repair hazards quickly, and that is usually the responsible thing to do. It also means the handrail that was loose on Saturday is bolted tight by Tuesday, and the pothole in the parking lot is patched before anyone with a camera arrives. When documentation happens early, the file shows the original condition. When it happens later, the file shows the current condition and any visible signs of change, and the field notes say plainly which of those the reader is looking at.
Video is often the most time-sensitive item. Many commercial camera systems record over older footage on a fixed cycle, and the retention period varies from one business to the next. During a canvass, field personnel identify cameras with a possible view of the area, note who operates them and ask whether footage exists. Delator cannot compel anyone to hand over video. The canvass report gives the requesting party the information needed to pursue it through its own channels.
How the parties use a neutral premises record
Tennessee uses modified comparative fault, so the conduct of the injured person and the condition of the property are often weighed against each other. That makes ordinary details matter: how visible a step edge was, where a warning sign stood, what the lighting was like from the direction the person approached. A neutral record of those details serves either side, because it describes the scene without arguing a position.
Requests come from property and casualty adjusters, defense and plaintiff attorneys, property managers, risk managers and injured people handling their own claims. For injured parties and pro se individuals, the service is documentation only, with no advice about the claim. Field personnel document areas open to the public or areas they have permission to enter. Back-of-house areas, gated residential common areas and closed sites require permission from the party in control, and the requesting party is usually the one to arrange it.
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 a location on private property without the owner's cooperation?
We document from areas that are open to the public or where we have permission to be. We do not trespass or enter restricted areas under a pretext. If access is refused, the notes record that, and the location is photographed from the nearest lawful vantage point.
The incident happened at night. Will you go at night?
Yes. Dispatch runs around the clock, and lighting conditions are documented at or near the hour of the incident when requested. A daytime visit is often added so that dimensions, surface condition and signage are also recorded clearly.
Will the report say the property owner was negligent?
No. Delator Claims Division does not determine fault, notice, cause or the value of a claim on documentation assignments. The report states what was observed and measured. Conclusions about responsibility are left to adjusters, attorneys, retained experts and the court.
What if the condition has already been repaired?
The visit still has value. We document the current state, any visible evidence of recent repair, the fixed features that have not changed such as dimensions and layout, and cameras in the area. The report makes clear that the record reflects post-repair conditions.
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.