We get this all the time, and we’ve answered this a few times throughout our career, what does a private investigator do? Can they even help me? If they can help, how can I go about hiring a private investigator? This isn’t anything new, and as a matter of fact, most of our clients have the same set of questions. After all, it’s not like many people have private investigators on speed dial.
While many people hire us for similar services – Infidelity, Child Custody, or Missing Person Locates, our services are always different. As a matter of fact, we’ve probably never worked a case like yours.
Our services are based on what you’re trying to find or what you’re trying to solve. We typically break these services down into 3 categories: Domestic, Corporate, and Legal.
Domestic Investigations
We primarily work with the general public to assist them with all their investigations. The core services we offer them are Background Checks, Child Custody Investigations, Cheating Spouse Investigations, and Surveillance Services for general services.
Every single service we offer is different from one another. We have over 20 years of experience in the investigative industry, and even though your case may share similarities with another, the case is usually very different from one another. This is why investigators ask you to call to request a case consultation.
A cheating spouse investigation between two people is very different than another based on:
- Do they have children? Are you the mother? The Father? Are you wanting to have full custody? What are your goals?
- Do you have a high number of assets that we need to be aware of?
- Are you and your partner living together? Are you separated? Are you living in another city or state?
These variables are endless. Based on what you’re looking for and what you need, our team will piece together an investigative plan to find the answers you need.
Corporate Investigations
Corporate investigations are a bit more traditional than domestic or legal. While the problems are still going to be different from one another, these cases tend to have similar end goals – to protect a corporation or a small business from a number of threats.
Some of the core investigative practices that businesses engage us in include:
- Business Partner Due Diligence Checks: This is probably one of the biggest threats to a business (Outside of employee theft). A business partner may be investing their entire life savings into a company with their friend / stranger / investor / family member, etc. You and your (Insert partner relationship) may know each other in person, but do you truly know what they have hidden in their closet?
- Surveillance Services: This is more of a “tool” that we have at our disposal. Surveillance can be used for a number of things. This can be employee theft, fraud, FMLA investigations, corporate espionage cases, hostile terminations, and more.
- Background Investigations: This type of background investigation particularly focuses on possible convictions, fraud, theft, or signs that could jeopardize a business – image, assets, or interests.
Beyond these types of services, we have risk mitigation services, security consultations, and even Bug Sweeping services. Now, depending on what it is you’re looking for, or what your ambitions are, our investigators can devise a plan to help you find the information you’re looking for.
Legal Investigations
This is primarily reserved for attorneys. We work with an actual legal firm or attorney to help them prepare for a legal case. While the list of services look very similar to corporate investigations and domestic services – because attorneys typically work with those types of clients – the goals are relatively straightforward / black & white.
We never deviate from the goal of the investigation. That’s not to say that our investigators won’t introduce new leads or investigative avenues. But, since this is a legal matter, we let our attorney clients dictate how the investigation is conducted.
Oftentimes, our attorney clients bring us onboard as investigative consultants to help them device an investigative strategy for their clients and cases. If you’re an attorney and have questions, we can help.
How do you go about hiring a private investigator?
We typically start with a free consultation. During this stage, we want to know what you’re looking for. What kind of problem are you trying to solve? And how do you want to solve this problem?
It’s a lot more complicated than saying – “We charge $XX.xx per hour.” Some services don’t have an hourly fee, others have fixed costs, and others are based on the time and number of investigators. Hourly rates are difficult to calculate since variables can change the time and length of an investigation.
This is similar to driving – how fast can we drive from West Palm Beach to Miami Beach? Are we driving down on a Wednesday mid morning? Or Friday after work?
Investigations are the same – are we conducting an investigation in a heavy city center? Are we using one investigator or two? Do we need to run background checks? Sure, a private investigator can quote you per hour – but without knowing exactly what you’re looking to accomplish, the quote may not make sense.
If you are thinking of hiring a private investigator, our team is here to help! Our initial consultation is always free!
