Most people can never imagine needing to hire a private detective and yet it’s an increasingly common part of everyday life. And this month we’re looking at a few of these private detective cases to see why people opt for a private investigator.
Private detective team to help burgled businessman
A businessman in Lanarkshire who took his family on holiday to get some winter sun was burgled to the tune of five figures. The family whose house was burgled lost jewellery and other personal possessions after a door was smashed and the CCTV system compromised. The man in question said “I’m in the fortunate position that I can put money up as a reward and bring in investigators – many people in my situation can’t.”
Thousands of families experience robberies every year and are never able to regain their precious possessions. Private detectives can help in such cases by at least offering the family some closure by at least revealing what has happened and where the stolen goods were disposed of, where police will often not proceed unless they believe they have a good chance of a conviction.
Private detectives help companies avoid fraud
Jet2Holidays is just one of many holiday companies using private detectives to clamp down on claims management companies that try to encourage holidaymakers to make false claims against their holiday firm. What makes the Jet2Holidays a little more unusual is that their private detectives will actually be spending time in the resorts – they will act on customer tip-offs as well as going undercover themselves and when they have evidence of insurance fraud they will report to both the travel operator and the local police in the resort.
Tui is also exploring the option of using detectives and several companies are now sharing their blacklist of customers who make bogus or malicious claims.
Holidaymakers need to be made aware of the risks they are running – if they perpetrate this kind of fraud and are caught they will bear the full brunt of local law, while the claims management firms that encourage them bear no penalty.ABTA has said that the ‘gutter tactics’ of these organisations encouraging people to make dishonest claims need to be highlighted.
Many business sectors are prone to fraud and false claims and could benefit from an investment in hiring a private investigation team to explore how they are being exploited. The simple fact of being challenged by a private investigator can be enough to encourage professional fraudsters to move out of that area.