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
Taxi and Cab Accident Documentation
Neutral field documentation for collisions involving taxis, cabs and other for-hire passenger cars. Delator Claims Division photographs the vehicle, its markings and equipment, the passenger compartment and the scene for carriers, cab companies, attorneys and passengers across Tennessee.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A taxi is a commercial passenger vehicle that spends most of its working day in the places where traffic is most compressed: airport terminal roads, hotel entrances, hospital drives and downtown one-way streets. It carries its identity on the outside, with a company name, a cab number and a roof light, and it carries equipment inside that an ordinary car does not, including a meter and sometimes a partition between the front and rear seats.
Those features shape what is documented after a collision. The cab number and markings tie the vehicle to an operator and a permit. The partition and rear compartment matter when a passenger reports striking something inside the car. High mileage and long service lives mean the body often shows older damage beside the new. Delator records all of it as found, with photographs, measurements and factual notes.
When cab operators, carriers and passengers call
- A fare-paying passenger reports being thrown against a partition or front seatback and the interior needs to be photographed.
- A cab company's insurer wants the vehicle recorded before the operator's shop repairs it and puts it back on the road.
- The other driver says the taxi changed lanes or made a U-turn to reach a fare, and the roadway layout is in question.
- The collision occurred on an airport or hotel taxi line where queuing lanes, signs and curb assignments are specific to that property.
- Older scrapes and dents on a high-mileage cab need to be separated visually from damage that appears recent.
Details recorded on a taxi assignment
- Cab number and markings
- Company name, cab or unit number, permit decals, roof light and any contact information displayed on the body, photographed legibly from each side.
- Partition and rear compartment
- Any divider between front and rear seats, its mounting, edges and payment opening, along with rear seat belts and surfaces a passenger could contact.
- Meter and dispatch equipment
- The meter, dispatch terminal, radio and any camera housing are photographed in place. Delator does not download or access data from this equipment.
- Old and new body damage
- Each damaged area is photographed with scale and described by condition, such as rust, dirt accumulation or fresh paint transfer, without assigning it to a date.
- Taxi stand or queue layout
- Stand signage, queue lane striping, bollards and curb markings where the cab was waiting or pulling out, with measured lane and curb widths.
- Tires, lamps and glass
- Tread condition, lamp function where it can be observed, windshield and window condition, and mirror placement, noted as part of the vehicle's general state.
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.
Passenger injuries inside the cab
Taxi passengers ride in the rear, frequently for short trips and frequently unbelted. When a cab is struck or brakes hard, the rear occupant moves toward whatever is in front of them. In a car with a partition that is a rigid panel with a frame, a sliding window or a payment tray. Carriers and attorneys on both sides want to know what that structure looks like, how far it sits from the seat and whether the belts were present and functional.
Delator photographs the rear compartment from the passenger's seated position and from each door, measures the distance from the seatback to the partition or front seat, and records the condition of belt webbing, latches and retractors as observed. No conclusion is offered about whether a belt was worn or how an injury occurred. Those questions belong to the parties, their medical providers and their experts. The photographs give them an accurate picture of the space.
Working vehicles return to service quickly
A cab that is not on the road is not earning, so operators repair fast, often in their own or an affiliated shop. Bumper covers, lamps and fenders are replaced within days, and the damaged parts are discarded. If the claim is later disputed, the only record of the impact may be a few phone photographs taken at the roadside. A complete documentation set made before repair preserves the damage profile on every side of the car.
The scene has its own short-lived evidence. Taxi lines at terminals and hotels are commonly covered by property cameras, and some cabs carry their own. Delator can identify cameras that appear to cover the location and report who operates them so that the requesting party can pursue the footage. Retrieval from a cab's own camera or meter is a matter for the operator and the parties. The field record covers what can be seen, measured and photographed.
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 pull data from the taxi's meter or in-cab camera?
No. Delator photographs the equipment in place and notes its make and location where visible. Access to recordings or trip data is arranged between the cab operator and the parties or their counsel. If a camera appears to cover the collision, the field notes say so, so that the footage can be requested promptly.
Can a cab company request documentation of its own vehicle?
Yes. Operators, owner-drivers and their insurers can request documentation, and before repair is the most useful time. For an operator or driver acting on their own behalf the work is neutral documentation of the vehicle and scene. Carriers and their counsel may also retain the division for claim investigation, which is a separate service.
Does this cover limousines, shuttles and non-emergency medical transport cars?
Yes. The same approach applies to any for-hire passenger car or small shuttle: exterior markings, permit information displayed on the vehicle, the passenger compartment and the scene. Larger passenger vehicles are covered on the bus and van documentation pages, where seating layouts and loading equipment are addressed in more detail.
Will the report say whether the taxi driver was at fault?
No. On neutral documentation assignments Delator does not determine fault, causation or value. Tennessee uses modified comparative fault, so the allocation between drivers matters to every party, and that allocation is made by adjusters, counsel or a court. The report supplies photographs, measurements and factual notes for them to use.
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.