A licensing requirement for private investigators exists on the statute book but has never been brought into force, so anyone can call themselves one. The legal framework page explains the position. Until that changes, the protection you have is the questions you ask and the answers you get in writing.
Questions to ask any investigator
Ask these of us as well. Our answers are set out under each one so that you can compare them with anyone else's.
What will you refuse to do?
The most telling question. An investigator who cannot list what they will not do either has not thought about it or does not want to say. The answer should come quickly and should include accessing accounts and devices, obtaining phone or bank records, and tracing people who left to get away from the person asking.
Our answer: the short list is on the about page; the longer one runs through the legal and regulatory framework. Our guide on phone records and messages covers the request we refuse most often, and what a private investigator can and cannot legally do sets out the whole boundary.
Will the scope and cost be in writing before you start?
A verbal quote for surveillance is a guess, and an investigation with no written scope can grow without limit. You should see the questions to be answered, the methods, the price and the timescale on paper before you pay anything.
Our answer: nothing starts before an engagement letter is agreed. How we charge sets out what it contains.
How will the evidence stand up?
Even if you have no plans to go to court, ask this. Evidence gathered to a proper standard keeps that option open; evidence gathered casually closes it. Ask how observations are logged, how originals are kept, and whether the investigator has provided witness statements before.
Our answer: the report structure and the way exhibits are captured and kept are described in what you receive.
Who will actually do the work?
Fieldwork is often subcontracted, which is not itself a problem. What matters is whether you are told, whether the subcontractor is bound by the same terms on lawfulness and confidentiality, and who is answerable to you if something goes wrong.
Our answer: you are told at scoping how the work will be staffed. Anyone working on your instruction does so under our terms, and responsibility for the instruction stays with us.
How is my information stored, and for how long?
An investigation file is sensitive by definition. The investigator should be able to tell you where it is kept, who can see it, how long it is retained and when it is destroyed. If they are processing personal data as a business, they should be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, which keeps a public register you can search.
Our answer: retention periods are in our privacy notice; handling of personal matters is in our discretion notes.
What happens if you find nothing?
A good answer is that you receive a report saying what was checked and what it showed, and that you were warned beforehand if the work looked unlikely to succeed. A bad answer is a guarantee. No lawful investigation can promise a result.
Our answer: you pay for the work, not the outcome, and we tell you early if the evidence is heading for a dead end. See how we charge.
Can I stop part-way through?
You should be able to end an instruction at any point, pay for work done, and receive what was established so far. Be wary of anyone who wants the whole fee up front for open-ended work.
Our answer: yes, on those terms. Our terms of engagement say so.
How will you contact me?
If someone else might see your phone, email or bank statement, the investigator needs a plan for that before the first call, not after. Ask what appears on a statement, how calls are answered, and what they will do if someone else picks up.
Our answer: what to expect at first contact describes exactly how we make contact and what we will not say.
Warning signs
Any one of these should end the conversation. Several of them describe offers to break the law on your behalf, and the person who ends up exposed when that comes out is usually the client.
Walk away if they
- Guarantee a result
- Offer to obtain phone records, bank statements, medical records or account passwords
- Offer to locate a phone, or to place a tracker on a vehicle they have no lawful basis to track
- Suggest you install monitoring software on someone else's device
- Claim to hold a private investigator's licence
- Want cash only, or the whole fee before anything is in writing
- Press you to decide today
Look for someone who
- Asks why you want to know before saying yes
- Tells you when investigation is the wrong route
- Puts scope, method and price in writing
- Can explain how the evidence will be used
- Has a plan for contacting you safely
- Answers the refusal question without hesitating
What you can check yourself
- Companies House. If the investigator trades as a company, the register shows when it was incorporated, who the directors are and whether accounts are filed. A trading name that does not match any registered company is worth asking about.
- The Information Commissioner's register. Organisations that process personal data for business purposes are generally required to pay a fee and appear on the register of fee payers. Absence is not proof of wrongdoing, but presence is easy to confirm.
- Their terms. Ask for the terms of engagement before you agree anything, and read the sections on lawful methods, termination and what happens to your data. Ours are published here.
- How they answer the phone. Call the number on the website and ask how they would handle a call to you: what is said if someone else answers, and what shows on your phone. An investigator who deals with sensitive matters will have an answer ready.
Whether an investigator is the right route at all
Some situations are better handled elsewhere first. Threats and violence belong with the police. A non-molestation order or an injunction comes from a solicitor and a court, and an investigator may only be needed afterwards, if at all. Intimate images shared without consent can often be removed by reporting to the platform directly; our guide walks through that before it mentions us. If your question is one a solicitor, a regulator or a free specialist service can answer at lower cost or risk, we will say so in the first conversation.