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
Witness Statement Coordination for Insurance Claims
Delator Claims Division schedules and records voluntary witness statements across Tennessee. Licensed private investigators meet each witness, record what the person says in their own words, and deliver the recording and a written record to the requesting party without commentary.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
Knowing a witness exists is different from having that person's account on record. Adjusters and law offices often hold a list of names with no time to drive to three counties, wait for a shift to end, or return after a missed appointment. Statements get postponed, and the account that would have been clear in the first week is taken from memory many months later.
Coordination means Delator handles the logistics and the recording. Field personnel contact each witness, agree on a time and place that suits the witness, confirm consent to record, and ask open questions about what the person observed. The words are the witness's own. The investigator does not summarize, interpret, or steer the account, and the same method is used whoever requested the statement.
When statement coordination helps
- Several witnesses to one collision live in different counties, and their accounts need to be taken within the same few days.
- A witness works nights or weekends and can only meet outside the hours an adjuster or law office normally keeps.
- A handwritten note taken at the roadside needs to be replaced with a complete account in the witness's own words.
- A passenger, bystander or employee is willing to talk but prefers to meet in person instead of answering questions by phone.
- An attorney wants a witness's recollection recorded now, before deciding whether a formal deposition will be needed later.
What each statement assignment includes
- Scheduling and confirmation
- Field personnel reach the witness, set a time and location the witness chooses, and reconfirm beforehand. Missed appointments and reschedules are logged with dates.
- Recorded consent
- The recording opens with the date, time, location, persons present and the witness's spoken acknowledgment that the statement is voluntary and is being recorded.
- Open-question interview
- The witness is asked to describe what they observed from start to finish, followed by clarifying questions that do not suggest an answer.
- Witness sketches and markups
- Where useful, the witness marks their own position and what they saw on a diagram or printed aerial image, which is photographed and delivered with the statement.
- Verbatim written record
- A written record follows the recording word for word, including corrections and expressions of uncertainty, with nothing added or characterized by the investigator.
- Delivery file
- The audio file, written record, any diagrams and the scheduling log are delivered securely to the requesting party once the statement and its written record are complete.
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.
What a neutral statement is and is not
A statement taken by Delator on a documentation assignment is the witness's account and nothing more. The investigator does not tell the witness what others have said, does not test the account against a theory, and does not comment in the record on whether the person seemed reliable. If the witness is unsure, the uncertainty stays in. If the witness did not see the moment of impact, the record says exactly that.
This matters because Tennessee uses modified comparative fault, and a witness's words about speed, lane position or signal color can bear on how fault is allocated by others. Delator does not make that allocation. The statement is not sworn testimony and is not a deposition. How it may be used in a claim or in court is a question for the requesting party's attorney, not for the investigator who recorded it.
Coordinating several witnesses on one claim
Claims with more than two witnesses create a scheduling problem before they create an evidence problem. Delator assigns the statements through its statewide dispatch network so that a witness in Memphis and another in Knoxville can be seen in the same week by licensed investigators using the same format. Each witness is interviewed separately. Witnesses are not shown one another's statements or told who else has been interviewed.
The requester receives one file per witness and a single status sheet showing who has been recorded, who is scheduled, who declined and who could not be reached. Where a witness refers to a specific spot, such as a driveway or a particular lane, field personnel can photograph that location afterward so the reader can follow the account. Those photographs are labeled as illustrating the witness's description, not as confirming 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
Will you record a statement from someone who is represented by an attorney?
Field personnel ask at the outset whether the witness has an attorney in the matter. If so, contact is paused and the requesting party is told, so that any further arrangements can be made through counsel. Delator does not advise the requester or the witness on what the rules for such contact are.
Can the witness review or correct the statement?
Yes. A witness may ask to hear the recording or read the written record, and any correction the witness offers is added as a dated addition instead of replacing the original words. Both versions are delivered so the requesting party can see exactly what changed and when.
Do you take statements for policyholders and people handling their own claims?
Yes. Individuals and their attorneys can request neutral witness statements. The method is identical: voluntary, recorded with consent, and verbatim. Delator does not advise on the claim, deadlines or strategy, and it does not tell a requester which witnesses help or hurt their position.
Is the statement taken under oath?
No. These are voluntary recorded accounts, not sworn testimony, and the witness is told so on the record. If a requester needs a sworn statement, affidavit or deposition, that is arranged by the requester's attorney. Delator's file can help counsel decide which witnesses to pursue further.
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.