We are often asked – is it legal to hire a private investigator in the UK? And the simple answer is “yes” it is.
Legal private investigations within the UK, can often be just the start to uncovering the truth to assist in a difficult situation.
Current media reports have again bought in question What can a Private Investigator actually do legally in the UK. There is wide speculation on this. There is little point in conducting an investigation where the evidence is obtained illegally, putting clients at risk. Regardless of how keen a client is to obtain this information.
There are many services that UK Private Investigators can provide, and most reputable agencies cover the whole spectrum of investigations, backed by many years of experience.
However, what services a Private Investigator can offer legally, by staying within the law in the UK, in 2024, is where confusion can often arise.
When speaking to Insight our Private Investigators will be able to guide you to the best possible solution to resolving a situation, giving honest advice.
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Unfortunately, when we hear the words private investigator many people think of Magnum PI, Sherlock Holmes, or even Strike, Vincent and Shakespeare & Hathaway, but these lovable characters are a huge misrepresentations of what a private investigator can do within the parameters of UK law.
The services we see on TV such as trespassing, phone tapping, computer hacking or obtaining personal records are highly illegal. However, there is a huge array of tactics and methods a private investigator can adopt to obtain the information needed without breaking any laws and ensuring no breach of human rights or data protection.
It should be remembered here that there are those who actually ‘haven’t been caught yet’ and therefore have no adverse Criminal record, yet a discreet but thorough investigation can unearth any amount of anti-social or illegal behaviour.
There are roughly 10,000 private investigators operating in the UK yet less than 2,000 have voluntarily signed up to be part of an industry body such as WAPI, ABI or IPI. Therefore, it’s vital that if you do find yourself hiring a private investigator, you find an agency that knows the intricacies of UK law, operates within those laws and has the skill set to legally and responsibly obtain the information that’s needed to help with your investigation.
A reputable private investigator that has voluntarily signed up to be part of a peer-to peer trade body (WAPI, ABI, IPI) will also operate under a strict ethical code. Insight Investigations have signed to the Joint WAPI-IPI-UKPIN Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct
Insight Investigations are proud members of W.A.P. I – The World Association of Professional Investigators. Membership to the association comes after thorough vetting. Together with following the strict code of conduct.
When dealing in such personal and private matters which involve people’s lives, it’s essential to have a strong moral compass and only take on Investigations where there has been a clear wrongdoing, or where employing an investigator to get to the truth of a situation will benefit the client, with no malice intended.
Misuse of private investigator services is something that we at Insight Investigations are highly aware of and all of our investigators are trained to assess each case thoroughly and make the call as to whether it should be taken on and progressed.
So what is and isn’t legal? We asked our senior investigator Tony to break down the do’s and don’ts both legally and ethically of obtaining information for a case.
Official records
Accessing someone’s criminal, medical, banking or financial history is strictly illegal and highly unethical. Instead, to try and build up a picture of someone’s history and their previous actions, our dedicated researchers are trained to review and unpick publicly available records, online searches and social media. Using a wide variety of public records enables us to piece together a full picture of a person to alleviate any fears or concerns.
We might be working for someone who is concerned about a new love interest of a family member and would just like to know a little more to protect the person they love. Building a fully rounded picture of that person is often more helpful than simply knowing whether they have any previous convictions.
Clients can sometimes think this is something that’s easily done themselves, but we’ve spent years building relationships with local court houses, registry offices and libraries where these documents are often held. We also subscribe and pay membership fees to online legal aggregators of public records which grants us access to things not readily available to the general public. There’s also a huge amount of public information available, it’s just knowing where to look and how to analyse the information in front of us.
Phone and computer hacking
It is both illegal and unethical to hack someone’s phone or computer and this is not a service that any reputable private investigator would offer. Be wary of any private investigator who offers products such as apps and programmes for electronic equipment designed to hack information. Not only are they breaking the law, selling you this type of equipment, you are also breaking the law when using it. Often this type of software, is in fact a scam and we find ourselves regularly helping clients who have been ripped off by rogue investigators selling software that simply doesn’t work.
At Insight Investigations we take a different approach. There are several tactics which we adopt to get to the truth of a situation such as highly skilled surveillance teams carrying out public monitoring of a suspect or legally placed GPS car tracking of that suspect. Both of which can ascertain the same sort of information completely within the law.
Trespassing
Under no circumstances should a private investigator enter into a private home or workplace without permission. No matter how important the case, this is trespassing in the eyes of UK law and also completely unethical. All of our investigations are done in public places or using public records and information.
After all, Clients must be advised that evidence obtained illegally, irrespective of its value, will likely be challenged at Court and disallowed and could harm your case irreparably.
Every case is unique and every situation needs a tailored approach from a trained, experienced investigator. For a free consultation with one of our team about your own personal situation, you can contact us 24 hours a day seven days a week on the number below, or fill out our contact form here.
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