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
Subrogation Support: Documenting the Loss Before Repairs Begin
Delator Claims Division documents loss scenes, damaged property and suspect components for subrogation files in Tennessee. Carriers, self-insured entities, TPAs and subrogation counsel use the record to evaluate recovery against a third party. Delator documents; it does not determine cause or fault.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A subrogation claim is usually identified after the insured has been paid and the damage is already being repaired. By then the failed supply line has gone out with the plumber's debris, the vehicle that struck the building has been towed and released, and the contractor has opened the wall. The party pursuing recovery is left to show what a third party did using an adjuster's photographs taken for a different purpose.
Field documentation ordered early closes that gap. Delator's personnel photograph the loss in place, record identifying information for products and parties, and note who has custody of each item that may matter later. The work is factual. Whether a third party is responsible, and whether recovery is worth pursuing, are decisions for the carrier and its counsel, made with whatever expert help they choose to retain.
Losses where recovery evidence is at risk
- A water loss appears to start at an appliance or fitting, and the plumber is about to remove and discard the part.
- A fire is reported near a specific appliance or device, and the area needs to be photographed before cleanup begins.
- A tenant, neighbor or contractor may have damaged the insured's property, and their identity and insurer are not yet confirmed.
- An insured vehicle or structure was struck by a commercial vehicle, and the owner and carrier of that vehicle need to be recorded.
- A subrogation unit receives a referral weeks after payment and needs to know what evidence still exists and where it is.
What goes into the recovery file
- Loss area before disturbance
- Overall and close views of the damaged area as found, taken in sequence so the position of every item can be re-established after cleanup.
- Product identification
- Manufacturer, model, serial number, date codes and installer labels on any appliance, fitting, device or component in the loss area, photographed legibly.
- Component condition in place
- The suspect part photographed from several angles while still installed, showing connections, orientation and visible damage, without disassembly or testing.
- Custody notes
- Who removed each item, when, where it was taken and who holds it now, as reported by the people on site and recorded by name.
- Third-party identifiers
- Names, company markings, vehicle and trailer numbers, permit postings and insurer details for contractors, tenants or drivers connected to the loss.
- Repair and mitigation status
- What work had been done by the time of the visit, by which vendor, and which areas remained untouched and available for later inspection.
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.
Evidence that repair work removes
Repair and recovery work against each other. The insured needs water extracted, a roof covered or a storefront boarded up the same day, and nobody on the mitigation crew is thinking about a claim against a manufacturer or a neighbor's contractor. Parts go into a dumpster. Burn debris is shoveled out. A struck vehicle is repaired and the other driver's details exist only in a narrative written at the roadside.
A documentation visit before or during mitigation records the loss while it can still be read. Field personnel do not interfere with emergency work and do not dismantle, test or alter anything. If a component is being removed anyway, they photograph it first and note who is keeping it. The requesting party can then decide, with counsel, how that item is to be handled and whether other parties are to be told.
How subrogation teams use the file
A recovery specialist or attorney first needs to know whether a claim is worth opening: is there an identifiable third party, is there a product or act to point to, and does the evidence still exist. Delator's report answers the factual parts of those questions. It does not say what caused the loss. If an engineer or other expert is retained, the photographs and custody notes give that person a starting record.
The same documentation is neutral in form, which makes it usable in a demand, an arbitration filing or litigation without being rewritten. Delator is not an engineering firm and offers no failure analysis. Carriers, self-insured entities, TPAs and their counsel that want investigative work beyond documentation, such as locating a responsible party or taking recorded statements, can add those services to the assignment.
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
Do you determine what caused the loss?
No. Delator documents condition, position, identification and custody. Cause and origin opinions come from qualified experts retained by the carrier or its counsel. Field personnel do not test, disassemble or alter components, and the report describes what was observed without stating why a failure occurred.
Can you take custody of a failed part?
The standard assignment records who holds each item and where it is kept, and does not include storage by Delator. A requester who wants an item moved to a named expert or facility can raise that at intake. Field personnel then document the handoff with date, time and the persons involved.
The repairs are finished. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. Field personnel can photograph the repaired area, collect contractor invoices and photographs through the insured with permission, identify who removed the damaged items, and find out whether any were kept. The report states plainly what was observed first-hand and what came from others.
Can an insured person request this for their own deductible recovery?
An individual can request neutral documentation of a loss. Delator does not pursue recovery, send demands, or advise on whether a claim against another party exists. Those are matters for the individual's insurer or attorney. The documentation itself is prepared the same way for any requester.
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.