The Dangers of Employing Bogus Private Investigators

In an industry that requires the upmost discretion and a major element of trust between client and service provider, more and more stories in the private investigator industry are being heard of money being paid out without getting the service required or illegal methods being gained to gets results. Insight Investigations, a private investigator agency with over 30 years experience, help people to understand the dangers and background checks that should be made prior to hiring a private investigator.

It is easy to see how some people who are desperate to find out the truth or uncover evidence of private, commercial or corporate matters can be easily led into hiring a private investigator or private detective agency to help out with these sensitive requirements.

Just searching for a private investigator into major search engines such as Google brings up hundreds of pages of results for a potential client to choose from, how do you know who are legitimate firms who follow the law and who are simply nothing more than corporate conmen looking to capitalise on other peoples misfortune.

The simple answer is at first glance it is impossible and you must carry out some simple checks that can protect you and your finances from falling victim to a private investigator that really does not have your best interests at heart or any concerns if they succesfully get the required result for you.

Insight Investigations, a leading private detective agency with over 30 years experience in the private investigator industry, not only provide legitimate services that cover many aspects of investigation work such as matrimonial, legal, surveillance and internet fraud investigations, but they also offer well respected consultation and advice in an industry that is not legally required to gain any qualification or license to trade.

There are some checks to make that will protect you that will not take long and will ensure you do not get hit in the pocket financially for your troubles. Insight have announced that the real stand out areas to research are;

Does the detective agency or private investigator belong to any of the main industry associations such as WAPI or the ABI, these two organisations are well established within the private investigator industry and any good firm wil almost certainly have a membership with them. In order to join the ABI, who have been established over 100 years, it is a requirement that the detective agency do not have any criminal convictions, which in itself is a good sign you are dealing with legitimate people. The ABI are also endorsed by The Law Society. Check for logos on the service providers website or check with organisations for membership details.

Professional Indemnity Insurance cover is also a vital as it provides financial cover for the service provider should there be an istance of professional negligence, knowing that you are dealing with an agency or company with the right cover can act as piece of mind. 

Ensuring the private investigator has a physical office and address is also a tell tale sign of their business, if you cannot arrange a face to face meeting or there are no address details it is likely you are dealing with a one man band or even a company operation remotely from a bedroom, hiring this type of private detective could leave you vunerable to not being able to trace the company you hired.

The office issue goes hand in hand with company registration details being clearly visible, no legitimate company need sto hide their registration details, which if present you can check by visiting a companies house web check page online, this service will provide the length of time a company has been registered and the registered office details. Also worth noting is that companies house can provide the company status, is they have been dissolved or there is a proposal to strike off it makes sense to steer clear.

Landline numbers being displayed on contact pages, instead of just freephone or mobiles will tend to imply that there is indeed a physical presence and that you are dealing with a real investigator, not just an imposter who can easily provide a mobile or buy a cheap freephone number to divert to a mobile instead of actually having landline phones.

Any good private investigator will be able to provide a range of payment options, which themselves can protect you from fraud and help recover monies lost. Paying via credit cards or VISA associated cards mean that you are automatically insured against companies who have not provided you with a legitimate service or product. Also secure payment methods such as Paypal and other gateways will offer the buyer increased protection. Steering clear of cash only, or check or BACS protects you from falling victim to making payment and not having anyway to recover lost money if a service is not carried out as described, or indeed at all.

Insight Investigations Director Tony Smith is Vice-Chairman of WAPI and has provided this impartial advice to help anybody requirig the services of a private investigator or private detective agency. Having been in the investigation industry for over 30 years Insight have helped thousands of clients, be it private, commercial or corporate by gaining legitimate results, keeping within the law and gained a reputation for excellent service, to view the full range of services visit http://www.investigate.co.uk.

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