The UK's Leading
Private Investigator

Professional personal private investigation services in the UK

We offer personal private investigation services in the UK - our services are used for many useful purposes such as tracing a missing person, tracing debtors, vehicle tracking, background checks, tracing birth parents, and much more. Here at Principal Investigations we offer a full range of personal PI services, so if you need a private detective agency, or private investigator to investigate a personal private matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Often people will ask us, are private investigators legally allowed to operate in the UK? The answer to this question is yes, and the law provides guidelines on what activities a private investigator is allowed to do. Private investigation companies are allowed to access all public records, which include some access to court documents and criminal records. Other private investigative services include background checks and historical checks on individuals, companies, and organisations. This can include financial checks showing bankruptcy and CCJ's as well as employee checks. Investigative work can be carried out online where a thorough review of social media profiles and online activities can be reviewed.

Who should use a personal private investigation service and why?

Our personal private investigation company offer a range of valuable services, particularly in situations where public services are unable to meet the demands of the client. Such services include:

Tracing Missing Persons: 180,000 People are reported missing every year in the UK. When someone is reported missing the police will investigate, evaluate the risk and determine whether or not it is a missing person case or not. In addition, if the missing person crosses between boundaries of different police forces, then the different departments must work together. Due to the demand for police services, it may take some time before progress is made. In this situation, a private investigation company can add a lot of value as they are a private company and can begin investigative work immediately without many of the public service obstacles the police face.

Surveillance Services: Legally a private investigator is allowed to carry out surveillance activities. There are many instances where surveillance is necessary for someone's safety and well-being - a stalker investigation for example. Surveillance can quickly identify if someone is in danger, find the person of interest and report them to the police. Surveillance services may also be required in an infidelity investigation, if a person suspects their husband, wife, or partner is cheating on them.

Identity Theft: There were 1.4 million cases of identity theft reported in 2020. Our private investigation service can help identify criminals who have stolen someone's identity and help build a case to have someone prosecuted and receive payment for damages.

Tracing Birth Parents: Many people who have been adopted or grew up in foster homes, unfortunately, were unable to keep in contact with their birth parents. A PI company can help people who want to trace their birth parents and establish contact with them again. This can be done utilising services such as background checks, public record checks, etc.

Vehicle Tracking: There were 48,400 vehicle thefts reported in 2021 in the UK. This poses a huge risk to business owners, and any owner of a vehicle. If you have had a vehicle stolen and are unable to find the vehicle, our private investigators can help you find the vehicle, and potentially prosecute the perpetrators.

Protect your business with expert commercial private investigation

Along with the day-to-day challenges of running a business, obstacles can present themselves that require a creative and decisive response. These obstacles may come in the form of actions by a disgruntled employee, theft and fraud, or perhaps aggressive tactics by a competitor. If these problems go undetected, they could result in a negative impact on your brand, finances, and ability to operate freely and profitably. It is the responsibility of every business owner and business manager to ensure the credibility, reputation, and profitability of their business are protected.

If a company or organisation suspects that unethical business practices are taking place, which is having an adverse impact on their business. It may be challenging to pinpoint exactly what is occurring and who is conducting these actions. Equally so, it could be inappropriate to present an accusation without credible information and evidence to back up your claims.

In this scenario, many businesses consult our commercial private investigation service - this is where Principal Investigations can really help. Our commercial private investigators are a team of time-served, and experienced private detectives, agents, and investigators that provide corporate intelligence and commercial investigation services. The work we conduct include background checks, corporate due diligence, financial and fraud investigations, asset and debtor tracing, employee absenteeism checks, pre-contract, and pre-employment checks, counter commercial / industrial espionage activities, and more.

Our private detectives have years of experience in dealing with employee theft, company fraud, and industrial espionage. Even if you don't choose Principal Investigations, we recommended that you consult with a commercial investigation service who can advise on what the tell-tale signs are of some of the key issues companies face.

What are the most common commercial private investigations?

Employee misconduct is a common area where a commercial investigation service can support a corporate business. Employee misconduct may come in various forms such as employee theft, employee absenteeism, or if an employee has an accident and is claiming against the company. Surveillance services offered by a commercial private investigation company can help a business determine whether there really are instances of employee theft or employee misconduct. We can help you determine who the culprit is, and your business can take the appropriate action.

Competitor profiling can offer valuable information to a business. This information can be used to counter industrial espionage where surveillance services and GPS tracking can be used to monitor the activities of a competitor suspected of espionage activities. If your business is deciding to enter into an agreement with another company, a due-diligence investigation can be conducted, where instances of company fraud, financial fraud, theft, and unethical business practices can be identified.

In summary, our commercial private investigators can provide valuable information to confirm or disprove suspicious activity such as company fraud, employee theft, industrial espionage, and employee misconduct. The information gathered from surveillance services, competitor profiling, GPS tacking, due-diligence investigations, etc, will provide the necessary evidence to allow business owners to make informed decisions. This is why choosing a professional such as Principal Investigations is essential.

Helping you fight and win legal cases and litigation battles

Legal and litigation investigations can provide information and evidence to help you fight and win legal cases and litigation battles.

Asset Recovery: Our commercial investigators are highly trained in commercial business practices and corporate law. We can help you trace and recover your commercial assets if your business falls victim to company asset theft. Asset theft can come in different forms, such as disgruntled employees stealing company equipment, vehicles or perhaps machinery. Our team of private investigators will help you investigate the crime and identify the perpetrators.

Evidence Gathering: An important part of any private investigation is evidence gathering. This is because the strength of your legal case or litigation procedure depends on the strength of the evidence that is presented in the case. That is why it is important to work with an experienced private investigation company that gathers evidence within the boundaries of the law and takes the time to understand your case and therefore the evidence needed to increase your chances of winning a legal case. Evidence gathering can play an important role in a criminal defence case or during a criminal appeal, and no one does it better than Principal Investigations.

Process Servers: An experienced team of Process Servers can reduce the time involved in the legal and litigation procedure and therefore greatly increase your chances of a successful outcome. Any legal or litigation procedure must follow due process as set out in the law. However, if this process is not followed, it can put your legal case at risk and delay the process. Process Servers will ensure that all legal documents are delivered within the legal timeframes and are properly communicated to the parties involved. It is important to work with professional Process Servers, such as Principal Investigations as in-depth knowledge of legal and litigation processes is required.

Insurance Investigation: During insurance litigation procedures, depending on whether you are making the claim or having a claim made against you, you will need evidence to support your claim, or to call into question someone else's claim. Our commercial private investigators can investigate the other party, and check for evidence of insurance fraud, the accuracy of witness statements, etc. Accident investigations may be necessary during insurance claims to determine the best course of action during legal and litigation court proceedings. This is particularly the case during road traffic accidents, when more than one party may give conflicting evidence. A private detective or private investigator with experience in road traffic accidents and accident investigations will have good knowledge of the road traffic regulations and evidence gathering. From experience, they will understand how to best present information to support a legal case, a criminal defence, or a criminal appeal. If you need a private investigator to investigate an insurance claim, please do not hesitate to contact.

Status Enquiry: Prior to initiating legal and litigation procedures to pursue a debtor, a Principal Investigations commercial investigator can carry out the status inquiry. This may involve a tracing investigation to identify and locate the debtor. From there our private investigator will determine whether the debtor is worth pursuing the money. This can save clients a lot of money that would have been spent on legal cases or litigation procedures.

Copyright Infringement: Owners of intellectual property are within their legal rights to initiate litigation procedures if someone uses their intellectual property without a legal agreement. In this situation, an accurate legal case must be present. A legal and litigation investigation must be conducted where evidence will be gathered to support the copyright infringement case. Again, choosing an experienced investigator is essential - call Principal Investigations today.

We offer a range of services that cater for families and relationships

Principal Investigations offer a range of services that cater for families and relationships. These can range from typical home and family security measures to nanny watch and background check services, or if an individual suspects infidelity within their relationship our private investigators can conduct surveillance on the unfaithful partner often known as matrimonial surveillance. Other services we offer include collecting co-habituation evidence, carrying out a pre-nuptial investigation and supporting individuals when participating in internet dating.

Matrimonial Surveillance: Where there is a situation with an unfaithful partner, the client can experience a lot of stress. Particularly during lengthy relationships where there are kids, property and shared responsibilities. Matrimonial surveillance can help, where an investigation is carried out to determine whether, in fact, your partner is being unfaithful. Surveillance must be carried out within the boundaries of the law and our private investigators have years of experience conducting these types of investigations legally and safely.

Co-Habituation Evidence: Our private detectives can help individuals gather and present cohabitation evidence. Co-habituation is when two people live together at the same address. Examples of when a private investigator would be used to gather co-habituation evidence include when someone must prove they have been living with their partner in a visa application. Other scenarios include when a relationship breaks up and the home is in one partner's name and the other partner wants to claim for damages or money spent on the property.

Nanny Watch: Trusting a nanny with the responsibility of caring for your children is a common practice. Nannies are typically trained in the care of children and have experience working in their client's homes. However, there have been many reported instances where a nanny has stolen from their clients, have been acting inappropriately in their client's homes and caused harm or participated in the abuse of their client's children. Principal Investigations can help with any nanny investigations.

Internet Dating: Caution should be exercised when meeting people off Internet dating websites. Most people are comfortable with Internet dating; however, precautionary steps should be taken to ensure your safety. Our private investigating services include background checks that can offer valuable information on a person's criminal history and social media activity which can be invaluable when meeting someone from an Internet dating website.

Pre-nuptial Investigation: Entering a marriage is a great milestone in someone's life and one that should be celebrated. However, it is an important commitment and one with legal obligations. That is why a pre-nuptial investigation, also known as a pre-marriage investigation, can provide clients with peace of mind that the person they are marrying is genuine and has been truthful up until this point in their relationships. A pre-nuptial investigation can include background checks, social media checks, review of criminal records and a work history investigation. If information is discovered that is concerning to a client, it could have serious repercussions if they were to enter a marriage with this person. Therefore, a pre-marriage investigation could be the best way to ensure your married life is a happy one for your wellbeing and security.