← Evidence letters

Evidence Preservation and Joint Scene Exam Notice

Send toOther side's insurance carrier and anyone else involved
WhenAn expert is hired and a scene exam is scheduled

💡 When to use it

Send this letter when your client has retained a forensic expert and the scene or evidence needs to be examined, as in fires, appliance failures, and product defects. It names your expert, invites every interested party to a joint scene exam, and warns them about spoliation.

  • Send it to every party who may be responsible. That includes adverse carriers, responsible parties, manufacturers, and contractors. Anyone left off can later argue they never had a chance to inspect.
  • Name your expert and their firm. The other side will want to know who they're dealing with and send their own expert.
  • Give a firm exam date and a reply deadline. 9 business days to respond keeps the exam on schedule.
  • Include the expert's contact information so the other side's expert can coordinate directly.
  • Keep proof of delivery. If evidence is later lost, this letter shows every party was notified.

✉️ The letter

Fill in the boxes and the letter updates as you type. Anything you leave blank stays [in brackets]. What you type stays on your device. Free downloads and prints include a light Subrobuddy watermark.

[Adverse Carrier or Responsible Party]
Attn: [Adjuster Name or Claims Department]
[Street Address]
[City, State ZIP]

[Today's Date]

RE: Evidence Preservation and Notice of Joint Scene Exam

Our Insured: [Insured's Name]
Our Claim No.: [Client Claim Number]
Date of Loss: [Date of Loss]
Loss Location: [Loss Address]		Police or Fire Report No.: [Report Number], [Department]
Your Insured: [Responsible Party]
Your Policy No.: [Adverse Policy Number, if known]
Your Claim No.: [Adverse Claim Number, if known]

Dear [Adjuster Name or Responsible Party]:

[Client Name] insures [Insured's Name] and is handling a claim for a loss that occurred on [Date of Loss] at [Loss Location]. [Your Company Name], as recovery agent for [Client Name], is investigating the cause of this loss for subrogation purposes, and you have been identified as a party of interest.

Forensic expert and joint scene exam

Please be advised that our office has retained [Expert Name] of [Expert Company] to examine the scene and evidence. [Expert Company] is hosting a joint scene exam on [Exam Date] at [Exam Time] at [Exam Location].

Please reply by [Reply Date, 9 business days from today] to confirm whether your office will attend the joint scene exam, and provide the name of your expert. You may contact [Expert Company] directly to coordinate:

[Expert Name]
[Expert Company]
[Street Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Phone] · [Email]

Spoliation of evidence

All evidence related to this loss must be preserved, including [the scene, equipment, components, debris, photographs, video, and records]. Do not remove, repair, alter, damage, test, or discard any evidence until all interested parties have had the opportunity to examine it. If evidence is removed, damaged, altered, or discarded, you or your insured risk a claim of spoliation of evidence. Depending on the jurisdiction, spoliation can lead to court sanctions, a finding that the lost evidence would have been unfavorable, or a separate claim for damages.

If your office does not respond by [Reply Date], the joint scene exam will proceed as scheduled, and evidence may be documented, collected, and retained by [Expert Company].

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Title]
[Company]
[Address]
[Phone] · [Email]