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
Wind and Hail Damage Documentation in Tennessee
Hail and wind leave small, numerous marks that are easy to miscount and easy to argue about. Delator Claims Division records those marks with scale references and consistent lighting for carriers, adjusters, attorneys, roofers' customers and property owners.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
Hail evidence is a pattern, not a single break. It shows as round dents in gutters, downspouts and vent caps, bent fins on air-conditioning coils, chipped paint on wood trim, and spatter marks where hailstones knocked oxidation off metal or grime off a fence. Wind shows differently: tabs creased along a horizontal line, shingles lifted and unsealed, ridge caps missing, and siding panels unlocked along one elevation.
Photographing these marks so that someone else can evaluate them takes method. Each one needs a scale, a known position on the building, and light from a low angle so that shallow dents register. Delator's investigators record the marks as found. They do not decide whether a mark is hail, mechanical damage, blistering or foot traffic, and they do not say whether a roof or siding system needs repair or replacement.
When a hail or wind record is worth ordering
- A contractor's inspection report and the carrier's inspection reached opposite conclusions about the same slopes.
- Hail fell recently and the owner wants soft-metal dents and spatter recorded while they are still fresh.
- A carrier needs collateral indicators photographed at many addresses in one hail swath on a short schedule.
- Siding or window wrap damage appears on one elevation only and the directional pattern needs to be shown.
- A commercial owner wants rooftop unit coil fins and vent hoods photographed before a service company combs them straight.
Marks and surfaces captured on a hail or wind visit
- Soft metals
- Gutters, downspouts, vent caps, flashing and mailbox tops photographed with a scale under raking light, so that dent diameter and density can be read from the image.
- Spatter marks
- Clean spots on oxidized metal, stained wood fencing, utility boxes and painted decks, with the facing direction of each marked surface noted in the field record.
- Coil fins and screens
- Bent condenser fins, torn or dimpled window screens and dented garage door panels, photographed square-on and at an angle with the elevation identified.
- Shingle condition at reach
- Creased, lifted, torn or missing tabs and areas of displaced granules, recorded from the ground, the eave or a walkable slope where conditions allow.
- Marked sample areas
- Where an adjuster or expert has chalked a test area, the investigator photographs the marked area whole and then each circled point inside it.
- Directional comparison
- Matching photographs of all four elevations and each roof slope from the same distance, so that differences between windward and sheltered sides are visible.
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.
Hail marks fade and loosened shingles get re-sealed or replaced
Hail evidence has a short life. Spatter marks are a difference in surface oxidation, and they weather back toward a uniform color over the following weeks and months. Hailstones themselves, which are the only direct evidence of size, melt within minutes. Dented vents and gutters are among the first items a roofer swaps out. Once shingles are torn off, the roof covering that was in dispute is in a dump trailer.
Wind evidence changes just as quickly. Lifted shingles are hand-sealed or nailed down as a temporary repair, missing tabs are patched with whatever shingle is on the truck, and a tarp covers the remainder. Debris blown into the yard is raked up. A visit before those steps, or immediately after them with the removed materials still on site, preserves conditions that no later inspection can recover.
What adjusters, roofers and owners disagree about
The usual disagreement is about what a mark is. A dark spot on a shingle may be read by one party as a hail bruise and by another as a blister, a manufacturing flaw, a nail pop or wear from foot traffic. A crease may be attributed to wind or to a ladder or installer. A second disagreement is about when: this hail date, an older one, or gradual aging. A third is count and distribution across slopes.
Delator takes no position on any of these. The investigator's job is to give the people who do hold opinions a clear, scaled and located image of each mark, plus collateral surfaces that help them reason about direction and size. The field notes describe what is visible in plain terms and avoid words that carry a conclusion. Counting hits per square and judging functional damage are left to the adjuster or retained expert.
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
Will the investigator get on the roof?
Only where it can be done safely. Low-slope and walkable surfaces in dry conditions may be accessed. Steep, wet, damaged or fragile roofs are documented from the ground, from the eave at a ladder, and from other safe vantage points. The field notes state which areas were not directly accessed and why.
Do you perform test squares or count hail hits?
No. Test squares and hit counts involve judgment about what qualifies as hail damage, which is an adjusting or expert function. If a test area has already been marked by someone else, the investigator photographs it as marked, both as a whole and point by point.
Can you tell me how big the hail was?
Delator does not estimate hail size or determine storm dates. The investigator records dent diameters with a scale and photographs any hailstones still present. Weather data and size conclusions come from the carrier, a meteorological source or a retained expert.
My roofer already took photos. Why would I need more?
A contractor's photographs are taken by a party with a stake in the repair, and a carrier may view them that way. A neutral record from a licensed investigator with no interest in the outcome gives every party the same reference material. Delator does not estimate, sell or perform repairs.
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.