Private Investigation Guides
Honest guides from a working UK investigation agency: what a private investigator costs, how to hire one, GPS tracker law and the signs investigators actually see.
Written by working investigators rather than a marketing department, and published because the honest version of this information is genuinely hard to find. What a private investigator actually costs in the UK. What is lawful and what is not. How tracing really works, and why some traces get refused. What employers can and cannot do when they suspect an employee.
Where a guide gives numbers, they come from our own casework and current UK market rates, and where something is uncertain or depends on your circumstances we say so rather than rounding it into a promise. If a guide tells you that you do not need to hire anyone, that is the guide doing its job.
Bug Sweeping (TSCM): How It Works and What It Costs in the UK
Updated 27 August 2026
Think your home, office or car is bugged? What a professional TSCM sweep actually involves, UK costs, why £30 detectors mislead, and what to do if a device is found.
Can a Private Investigator Find Someone Who Owes Me Money?
Updated 31 July 2026
Yes — debtor tracing is one of the most common PI jobs. How it works, what it costs (typically a fixed £150–£500), no-trace-no-fee, and what to do once they're found.
Can a Private Investigator Get CCTV Footage?
Updated 27 August 2026
The honest answer: no one can force a private CCTV operator to hand over footage — but the lawful routes work if you move before it's overwritten. How it's done.
Can I Hire a Private Investigator to Follow Someone in the UK?
Updated 6 September 2026
Yes, lawfully and within limits. What UK law allows when an investigator follows someone, who instructs surveillance and why, what an operation looks like, what it costs per day, and the instructions a professional agency refuses.
Due Diligence on a Business Partner — a UK Investigator's Method
Updated 1 August 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 27 August 2026
A DBS check shows criminal records — and almost nothing else. What employment background checks should cover, what's lawful under UK GDPR, and when to go deeper.
Employee Working a Second Job While Off Sick?
Updated 27 August 2026
What UK employers can lawfully do about suspected sickness-absence abuse — why tip-offs aren't 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 29 July 2026
GPS tracker law in the UK, explained by working investigators: when vehicle tracking is legal, when it isn't, and how to get it done lawfully — by us.
Hiring a UK Private Investigator From Abroad
Updated 27 August 2026
Living overseas with a problem in the UK? How remote instruction works — consultation, fixed quote, evidence and reporting — without you setting foot in Britain.
How Do Investigators Trace Hidden Assets? The Lawful UK Methods
Updated 1 August 2026
How UK investigators lawfully trace hidden assets — property, companies, vehicles — in divorce, debt and fraud cases, and what genuinely requires a court order.
How Do Private Investigators Find People?
Updated 31 July 2026
How professional people tracing works in the UK: licensed data, open-source intelligence and field enquiries — plus how long it takes and why some traces are refused.
How to Check if a UK Company Is Legitimate — 10 Checks That Cost Almost Nothing
Updated 1 August 2026
Ten checks that expose a fake or failing UK company: Companies House, CCJs, addresses, VAT, domain age and the red flags investigators see weekly.
How to Find a Long-Lost Family Member in the UK
Updated 6 September 2026
Finding a lost relative in the UK: the Salvation Army tracing service, adoption contact registers and intermediaries, DNA matching, probate and beneficiary traces, and when a professional tracing agent is the right call.
How to Find a Lost Friend in the UK: Free Routes First, Then Professional Tracing
Updated 6 September 2026
Lost touch with an old friend in the UK? The free searches that actually work, why they fail on common names and married names, how to make first contact well, and what a professional trace costs.
How to Find a Missing Person in the UK: What Actually Works
Updated 27 August 2026
Someone missing in the UK? The first steps that matter, what police will and won't do, the free help available, and when a professional tracing agent finds people the system can't.
How to Find Someone's Address in the UK, Lawfully
Updated 6 September 2026
The public records that can reveal a UK address, the ones that never will, the legitimate reasons that justify a professional trace, what the law says, and what an address trace costs.
How to Hire a Private Investigator in the UK
Updated 31 July 2026
How to hire a private investigator in the UK: what to check, what to ask, what it costs and the red flags to avoid — a guide from a working agency.
How to Prove Fraud in the UK: The Evidence Investigators Gather
Updated 6 September 2026
What fraud means in UK law, the evidence that proves it in criminal and civil cases, how to preserve it without tipping anyone off, the routes to police, banks and civil recovery, and where a private fraud investigator fits.
Invoice Fraud: What to Do in the First 48 Hours
Updated 27 August 2026
Your business paid a diverted invoice. The exact order of actions — bank recall, Action Fraud, evidence preservation — then how the compromise and the money are traced.
Is It Legal to Hire a Private Investigator in the UK?
Updated 31 July 2026
Yes — hiring a private investigator is legal in the UK. What investigators can and cannot lawfully do, whether evidence is admissible, and where clients risk liability.
Parcel Theft in Your Building: What Can You Actually Do?
Updated 27 August 2026
Parcels keep disappearing from your block? The practical steps that work — CCTV rights, police realities, building management duties, and when an investigator helps.
What Does a Private Investigator Cost in the UK? (2026 Guide)
Updated 27 August 2026
What does a private investigator cost in the UK in 2026? Hourly rates, surveillance day rates, tracing fees and the red flags in cheap quotes.
Process Servers in the UK: How Court Papers Get Served
Updated 27 August 2026
How service of court documents works in the UK, what process servers cost, what happens when the respondent can't be found — and how tracing solves failed service.
Romance Scam: What to Do Now — and Can Your Money Be Traced?
Updated 27 August 2026
If you've sent money to someone you met online: the urgent first steps, your bank reimbursement rights, whether the money can be traced — and how to avoid recovery scams.
Signs an Employee Is Committing Fraud — an Investigator's List
Updated 31 July 2026
The warning signs of employee fraud UK investigators actually see — sickness abuse, expenses, moonlighting — and what to do before you confront anyone.
Signs of a Cheating Partner — and How to Actually Know
Updated 31 July 2026
The behavioural signs of a cheating partner investigators actually see — and how to get certainty legally, without hacking phones or confronting on a hunch.
What Does a Corporate Investigator Actually Do?
Updated 6 September 2026
What corporate investigators do in the UK: due diligence, internal investigations, IP theft, asset tracing, litigation support and executive vetting. How an engagement runs, the legal boundaries, privilege, cost and how they differ from forensic accountants.
What Is Executive Due Diligence? A Board's Guide
Updated 1 August 2026
What executive due diligence covers, when boards and investors need it, how it differs from a DBS or reference check, and what a proper report looks like.
Who Is Behind an Anonymous Account? How Investigators Identify Online Harassers and Scammers
Updated 6 September 2026
Being harassed, impersonated or scammed by an anonymous account? What to preserve first, how lawful attribution actually works, when police act, how a Norwich Pharmacal order compels a platform to disclose, and what cannot be done.
K3K Investigations — private investigators in London, operating UK-wide. Call 020 3343 7007 (24 hours) or email [email protected].