Sometimes it seems that there are as many private detectives in cases as solving them! Regulation as a private investigator varies from country to country and in America in particular there always seems to be some private detective who is in court for some kind of misdemeanour.
Why does this happen? Often it comes about because there is a gap between the claims made by the detective agency and the reality. In many cases there is very little concrete experience underpinning the establishment of a private detective agency – while individuals have to pass IQ Level 3 Award for Professional Investigators, this does not require them to have any skills or expertise in investigative work.
At privatedetective.co.uk we insist on every member of our team have a specialist background in police, military or a specialist investigative background. This might include driving skills, forensic accounting or even expertise in searching databases and conducting online investigations. This means we are able to put together highly skilled private investigator teams to meet every client’s need.
What should a private detective agency deliver?
When looking for a private investigator, many people simply type ‘private detective near me’ into Google and hope for the best – but this really isn’t a good way to find the right private detective to solve your problem.
When seeking a private detective agency, it’s important to explore how the agency treats you from the first contact. Professionalism, courtesy, attention to detail and a real understanding of your circumstances are the key points to look for. It’s also vital that the private detective firm you choose gives you a single point of contact who will keep you regularly updated about progress on your case. Finally, it’s good if you are able to talk to your contact point about the time-frame and budget for your investigation and to explore with them what may happen when your case is resolved … for many clients of a private detective agency there are drastic adjustments to be made whatever the outcome of the case – and a team of private detectives that is used to helping its clients through transitions that result from the closing of a case file can be invaluable, especially where the case has been confidential and clients are not free to talk about it to their friends and family.
How to find the best private detective for you
So once you’ve decided that your problem is best solved by hiring a private detective, what steps should you take to find the perfect team to work with? Ask a lot of questions, making sure that you enquire about a point of contact, find out what the background skills of the detectives are, discover what experience they have of cases like yours (although don’t expect them to share details, any more than you’d want them to share personal details about you) and above all, work out if you have confidence in the agency’s approach.