Find out what impacts costs before you hire a PI
Before deciding to hire a private detective to investigate possible infidelity, you’ve probably wondered: what is the cost of a private investigator? Well, simply put, it depends. There are many different techniques and practices used to investigate infidelity. Services, as well as time commitment, impact costs. In this blog, we’ll look at the factors as they relate to costs and what you can expect to pay when hiring a private investigator.
Up front costs and set expectations
Private investigation firms in Australia offer a variety of services. The industry is well represented, allowing for competitive pricing for clients. Legitimate private investigators in Australia must be licensed so make sure when pricing services that you are working with a reputable firm. In your initial consultation with a PI, you should ask about the cost of services and whether they are hourly or have a flat fee. If hourly, ask for an estimated length of time, or you can simply set this yourself.
Services dictate costs
Physical surveillance
In most infidelity investigations, there is a need to do physical surveillance. If a client thinks his or her partner is cheating, we recommend surveillance of the partner. Sometimes our clients know exactly where their spouse will be within a defined time frame. In other cases, it’s up to us to track the person down and begin the surveillance. Surveillance allows us to provide documented proof of where the person is spending his or her time. This type of private investigation service is charged on an hourly rate. The length of time will vary, depending on what is uncovered and our clients request to continue following a subject. Surveillance is typically a one person job; however, circumstances may illicit the need for two or more investigators. If using multiple agents, the cost will be higher. In addition to surveillance, there are other services we offer to investigate infidelity, including background checks, social media investigations, phone number searches and data recovery.
Background checks
We can provide a full background check on an individual to include marital status, employment history, AKA (also known as) names and criminal record. The cost of a background check depends on how far back the search needs to go and what databases or courts need to be checked, both in Australia and globally. When looking at criminal history or civil proceedings, like divorces or lawsuits, there may be charges related to obtaining records, which would be the responsibility of the client.
Social media investigations
Social media is a platform often used as a secret way to connect and communicate with others outside of a relationship. If you are suspicious of your partner’s social media behaviour, we can run a social media check on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as well as dating or hook-up sites like eHarmony and Tinder. Costs for this would depend on how many platforms are checked.
Phone number searches
Is an unknown number always appearing on your spouse’s phone or on the phone bill? We can perform a quick trace to find its owner. This is typically a flat fee service.
Data recovery
Want to find out what’s recently been deleted on a smart phone, tablet or computer? It’s not really gone because we can use forensics technology to reveal deleted, corrupt of invisible information from almost any device. We can typically do an extraction of deleted data within 48 hours. This extraction would include messages, photos, emails and more. Pricing for this would depend on the type of device and the time taken to recover the data. Now that you know how the costs of hiring a private investigator are impacted, you can make an informed decision on what services you need. If you’d like to learn more about costs related to an investigation you’d like us to take on, please contact us. We’re available 24/7. All enquiries are confidential. Response time is typically within an hour via phone or email. We’ll price your investigation directly over the phone as well. Stop wondering what’s going on and get the truth you deserve today.