Private Investigation Guides
Plain-English guides from working UK investigators: what an investigator costs, how to hire one, where the law sits and what you can do yourself first.
Written by working investigators, and published because the straightforward version of this information is hard to find. What a private investigator costs in the UK. What is lawful and what is not. How tracing really works, and why some traces are refused. What an employer can and cannot do when they suspect an employee.
Where a guide gives figures, they are typical UK market figures. Where something is uncertain or depends on your circumstances, the guide says so. If a guide tells you that you do not need to hire anyone, it is doing its job.
Bug Sweeping (TSCM): How It Works and What It Costs in the UK
Updated 5 October 2026
Is your home, office or car bugged? What a professional TSCM sweep involves, typical UK costs, why cheap detectors mislead and what to do with a find.
Can a Private Investigator Find Someone Who Owes Me Money?
Updated 5 October 2026
Yes. Debtor tracing is among the most common investigator jobs. How it works, typical UK fixed fees of £150 to £500, and what to do once they are found.
Can a Private Investigator Get CCTV Footage?
Updated 5 October 2026
Nobody can force a private CCTV operator to hand footage over, but the lawful routes work if you act before it is overwritten. How it is done in the UK.
Can I Hire a Private Investigator to Follow Someone in the UK?
Updated 5 October 2026
Yes, lawfully and within limits. What UK law allows, who instructs surveillance, what an operation involves, typical day rates and what we refuse.
Due Diligence on a Business Partner: a UK Investigator's Method
Updated 5 October 2026
How to run due diligence on a UK business partner: the free checks to do first, the red flags investigators look for and when to bring in professionals.
Employment Background Checks: What a DBS Check Misses
Updated 5 October 2026
A DBS check shows criminal records and little else. What employment background checks should cover, what is lawful under UK GDPR and when to go deeper.
Employee Working a Second Job While Off Sick?
Updated 5 October 2026
What UK employers can lawfully do about suspected sick leave abuse: why a tip-off is not enough, what tribunal-ready evidence looks like and what it costs.
Is It Legal to Put a GPS Tracker on a Car in the UK?
Updated 5 October 2026
GPS tracker law in the UK, explained by working investigators: when vehicle tracking is lawful, when it is not, and how it is done properly.
Hiring a UK Private Investigator From Abroad
Updated 5 October 2026
Living overseas with a problem in the UK? How remote instruction works: first conversation, fixed quote, evidence and reporting, without travelling here.
How Do Investigators Trace Hidden Assets? The Lawful UK Methods
Updated 5 October 2026
How UK investigators lawfully trace hidden assets (property, companies, vehicles) in divorce, debt and fraud cases, and what needs a court order.
How Do Private Investigators Find People?
Updated 5 October 2026
How people tracing works in the UK: licensed data, open-source research and field enquiries. How long a trace takes, and why some are refused.
How to Check if a UK Company Is Legitimate: 10 Checks That Cost Almost Nothing
Updated 5 October 2026
Ten low-cost checks that expose a fake or failing UK company: Companies House, CCJs, addresses, VAT, domain age and the patterns behind them.
How to Find a Long-Lost Family Member in the UK
Updated 5 October 2026
Finding a lost relative in the UK: the Salvation Army, adoption registers, intermediaries, DNA matching, probate records, and when to use a tracing agent.
How to Find a Lost Friend in the UK: Free Routes First, Then Professional Tracing
Updated 5 October 2026
Lost touch with an old friend in the UK? The free searches that work, why they fail, how to make first contact well, and what professional tracing costs.
How to Find a Missing Person in the UK: What Actually Works
Updated 5 October 2026
Someone missing in the UK? The first steps that matter, what the police will and will not do, the free help available, and when professional tracing helps.
How to Find Someone's Address in the UK, Lawfully
Updated 5 October 2026
The public records that can reveal a UK address, the ones that never will, the reasons that justify a professional trace, the law, and typical costs.
How to Hire a Private Investigator in the UK
Updated 5 October 2026
How to hire a private investigator in the UK: what to check, what to ask, what it should cost and the warning signs to avoid.
How to Prove Fraud in the UK: The Evidence Investigators Gather
Updated 5 October 2026
What fraud means in UK law, the evidence that proves it, how to preserve it, the routes to police, banks and civil recovery, and what an investigator adds.
Invoice Fraud: What to Do in the First 48 Hours
Updated 5 October 2026
Your business paid a diverted invoice. The order of actions: bank recall, Report Fraud, preserving evidence. Then how the breach and the money are traced.
Is It Legal to Hire a Private Investigator in the UK?
Updated 5 October 2026
Hiring a private investigator is legal in the UK. What investigators may and may not do, how courts treat the evidence, and where clients risk liability.
Parcel Theft in Your Building: What Can You Actually Do?
Updated 5 October 2026
Parcels vanishing from your block? The practical steps that work: camera rules, what police and building managers will do, and when an investigator helps.
What Does a Private Investigator Cost in the UK? (2026 Guide)
Updated 5 October 2026
What a private investigator costs in the UK in 2026: hourly rates, surveillance day rates, tracing fees, and the warning signs in a cheap quote.
Process Servers in the UK: How Court Papers Get Served
Updated 5 October 2026
How court papers are served in the UK, what process serving costs, and how tracing fixes a failed serve when the respondent cannot be found.
Romance Scam: What to Do Now, and Can Your Money Be Traced?
Updated 5 October 2026
Sent money to someone you met online? The urgent first steps, your bank refund rights, whether the money can be traced, and how to avoid recovery scams.
Signs an Employee Is Committing Fraud: An Investigator's List
Updated 5 October 2026
The warning signs of employee fraud that UK investigators see: sickness abuse, expenses, moonlighting. And what to do before you confront anyone.
Signs of a Cheating Partner, and How to Actually Know
Updated 5 October 2026
The behavioural signs of a cheating partner that investigators see, and how to get certainty lawfully, without hacking a phone or confronting on a hunch.
What Does a Corporate Investigator Actually Do?
Updated 5 October 2026
What corporate investigators do in the UK: due diligence, internal investigations, IP theft, asset tracing and vetting. How it runs, the law and the cost.
What Is Executive Due Diligence? A Board's Guide
Updated 5 October 2026
What executive due diligence covers, when boards and investors need it, how it differs from a DBS or reference check, and what a sound report looks like.
Who Is Behind an Anonymous Account? How Investigators Identify Online Harassers and Scammers
Updated 5 October 2026
Harassed or scammed by an anonymous account? What to preserve, how lawful attribution works, when police act, and how a court can order disclosure.
Investigation Bureau: UK private investigators. To reach an investigator, send a confidential enquiry or email [email protected]. We reply within one working day. Investigation Bureau is a trading name of Bureau Nine Ltd, company number 17484009, registered with the ICO as a data controller (ZC259849).