Is Hiring a Private Investigator Worth The Money?

Individuals and companies come to private investigators usually when they are desperate for answers or they need something specific investigated to give them information to make a decision.  Generally speaking, a potential clients can not find out the information they are seeking on their own.  Is hiring a private investigator worth the money? The answer depends on how important the outcome is to you.  Is the cost worth the answer you are looking for?

There are many reasons to hire a private investigator and some of the reasons are listed below. 

Potential Reasons For Hiring a Private Investigator

Background Checks

A background check might be needed when hiring potential employees, babysitters, and vetting potential renters just to name a few.

Investigating Infidelity Concerns

If an individual has infidelity concerns for a spouse or someone they are dating, an investigator might be hired to conduct surveillance on the suspected offending person.  Generally speaking, a game plan is agreed upon by the investigator and client to pursue ideal times of concern.  Those concerns could be late nights at the office or other excuses the spouse may have that is cause the client to raise concerns.

Premarital Vetting

There are occasions when a client wants to make sure there aren’t any undisclosed things their spouse may be keeping from them.  Investigators will consult with the client to determine their areas of concern and get some preliminary information from them.  The investigator should provide the potential cost of the service and expectations during that time.

Investigators will search public records and use paid databases to help uncover any information that may be of concern to the client.

Criminal records, bankruptcies, aliases, and judgments will be potentially uncovered during the investigation if there is anything to be found.

Locating an Individual

Some people want to find old friends, people they went high school with, people they dated in the past, people they want to serve papers to, property owners, etc… Really there is a 101 reasons people hire investigators to find people.

A quick couple of things you can expect from a good private investigator.  One thing to expect is that they are truly going to explore the reasons a potential client indicates they want to locate someone. Some people want to find individuals to harm them and private investigators will act as gatekeepers to help from assisting in something like that happening.

Secondly, a good private investigator won’t reveal always the location of the subject they have located for the client unless the person located gives the private investigator permission to release their contact information.  That might not sound fair however this is to protect the person being found.  This is an expectation you should have as a client.

Child Custody 

If a divorce is taking place and someone is concerned about the welfare of the children involved, a private investigator may be used to document the other party with a specific agenda in mind to contend for parental rights. 

Missing Person

There are a variety of reasons people hire private investigators to find missing people. Maybe there is a runaway teen or child, or maybe an inheritance is owed to someone and they need to be located. 

An investigator that specializes in these cases will consult with the potential client, gather as much information as they can from the client, and provide the potential cost and expectations. 

Insurance Claims

Private investigators are usually hired by insurance companies or business owners to conduct surveillance on insurance-related claims, conduct interviews, or photograph areas related to a claim.

This information is then compiled and provided to the client so they can make a decision on an insurance claim.

Trademark Infringement

Investigators are sometimes asked to document stores or products for infringing on designs or products that mimic another brand.

The scope is wide with the type of investigation for investigators and can vary from situation to situation.

Digital Forensics

Investigators that specialize in this field are able to find information on a computer that may have been deleted or that has been scrubbed by a user. 

The reasons for this vary for this type of investigation but investigators that specialize in this are rare and valuable.

Bug Sweeps

Some people come to private investigators out of concern that their home or office has been bugged.  They have concerns that hidden cameras or audio recording devices are being used in those spaces. 

Investigators will use devices and their experience to help determine if there are any recording devices within the location of concern.

How to Vet a Private Investigator

Private investigators are not all created equal. Usually, private investigators are very good at specific services and less than adequate at other services despite indicating they can do it.

Here are some ways to determine if hiring a private investigator is worth the money for their services.

You want an ethical trustworthy investigator to work on your behalf

Andrew Kidd

Meet the Investigator in Person 

By meeting the investigator in person you will have the ability to size them up to some degree.  You will be able to see how they present themselves and ask them questions on the spot.  Be prepared with questions for the meeting.

If for some reason the investigator takes issue with meeting a client in person, this could be a red flag unless there is an extreme distance between the two parties. However, an alternative to meeting a private investigator in person would be a video call.

Meeting an investigator would be ideal but not every person feels this is necessary.

Ask for an Example Work Product

This may be a stretch but ask the private investigator for an example of the work you are asking for. An example background check report to see what type of information will be presented.  

If you are that the investigator conduct surveillance for you, ask for an example report.

Ask For References

Surely if the investigator has been performing investigations long enough they will have references for you to contact.  If references are provided, contact those references to discover whether they were competent in their investigation, how they communicated, was the previous client happy with the results or efforts of the services they provided them.

Understand Your Budget and Possible Outcomes

When asking yourself whether hiring a private investigator is worth it, some of the answers will be straightforward like a background check and others might take more consideration.

If you are hiring a surveillance investigator to follow your spouse because you fear there is infidelity taking place, how much will you be willing to spend to determine whether they are cheating or confirm they are not. 

You may not be happy with the results one way or the other. If you spend $5,000 but the investigator never documents wrongdoing yet you firmly believe it is taking place, you might be upset that you spent that much money without the information confirming your suspicions.  If the investigator secures documentation that reflects infidelity, you will be upset that it was discovered.

Using a private investigator can provide closure in an infidelity matter.  A private investigator can speed up a background check and find the information you might not be able to do sufficiently alone. 

Ask How Many Times The Investigator Has Performed That Type of Investigation

When an investigator has conducted an investigation many times, they for the most part know how they are going to approach an assignment.  A surveillance investigator who conducts surveillance 5 to 7 days a week will be pretty experienced and understand what obstacles they might encounter.

What is the Expectation of Communication?

Different assignments will call for different amounts of communication. Ask the investigator what type of communication you should expect or explain the type of communication you would like regarding the assignment. 

Agree verbally or in writing as to what the communication expectation will be. 

Understand What You Are Paying For

With surveillance investigations, a private investigator may charge for preliminary investigations, travel time, surveillance or investigative time, and report time.  

Have some general rules in place that you and the investigator agree upon. An investigator will likely provide you with a retainer agreement that is essentially an agreement of cost and expectations. If you don’t agree with what is laid out, don’t sign in until it reflects on terms you can agree with.

You will likely pay a retainer fee that the investigator will work from.  If a private investigator charges $65 an hour of investigation time your retainer will be close to approximately $1,600 for 3 days of surveillance (8-hour days). 

Interview More Than One Investigator

Depending on the importance of the investigation you want to conduct, you may want to interview more than one investigator for the assignment to truly find the best investigator for the job.

Is a Private Investigator Worth The Money?

There is never a guarantee of the results of an investigation especially if you are looking for a specific outcome.  

If you feel comfortable with the cost, the investigator, the terms of the agreement, and the possibility of not obtaining the outcome you are looking for, then yes, it might be worth it.

I can’t promise you if you pay a lot for an investigator you will be guaranteed anything. I can’t promise you if you pay a discount price that you won’t get amazing results. 

The burden will be on you, the client, to determine whether you trust the investigator and trust the investigator to complete the assignment. You want an ethical trustworthy investigator to work on your behalf.