Ten Reasons to Hire a Private Eye

Private investigators provide a wide variety of services to individuals, businesses and law firms

Updated June 12, 2012

It’s a misconception that hiring a private investigator is just for those who suspect cheating by a significant other.  While that is a valid purpose, there are at least ten other really good reasons to hire a PI — some might help resolve big issues in one’s life, while others might provide relief with an everyday concern.  At our investigations agency, Highlands Investigations, we often help people with many of these tasks.

Ten Reasons to Hire a PI

10.  To research your geneaology. This can help you determine diseases you’re prone to, your inheritance status, discover long-lost relatives, and more.

A PI can help ascertain whether or not to file a lawsuit

9.  To ascertain the suitability of business partners. A PI’s research into criminal convictions, civil lawsuits, administrative disciplinary actions and lawsuits, etc. gives you a solid ground for making a decision to either invest or partner with someone in a business.

8.  To double-check your nanny’s background. A PI can check a potential nanny’s employer references, driver’s history, criminal convinctions and more.  Even if a company states they do background checks, there’s nothing wrong in hiring your own PI to verify their facts…and maybe find new ones.

7.  To research financial assets before a lawsuit. A contractor did a shabby job remodeling your bathroom, and refuses to fix the problem despite numerous phone calls from you–and now you’re thinking about filing a lawsuit.  It’s a good idea before you hire a lawyer and file that suit to check that contractor’s assets (in other words, is he worth suing?).  A PI can easily check the contractor’s net worth, which gives you a good idea if the contractor can pay you should you win the case.

6.  To verify that special someone’s story is true before going to the next level.You’ve met someone special, they say

Sometimes people hide certain facts that a PI can help uncover.

and do all the right things.  It’s too good to be true, and you’re ready to make the big commitment.  Take a moment and put your head before your heart.  Hire a PI to verify Mr. or Ms.’s story is factual — did they really get a graduate degree from Northwestern?  Do they really own a vacation cabin in Lake Tahoe?  Are they really divorced?  A PI can find this out and more.

5.  To check who owns that phone number. How many times have you gotten phone calls that show up as “Unknown” or “Unavailable” in your caller ID?  Most PIs for a reasonable price can quickly confirm the true identity of the caller’s name.

4.  To serve court papers. If you are in a small claims lawsuit and need to have someone served lawsuit papers, hire a PI to do the process service.  Typically, PIs can accomplish difficult and/or time-sensitive services more quickly than county sheriffs, who are overworked and sometimes understaffed.

3.  To find old friends. Although there are all kinds of pay-per-use public databases on the Internet, they often provide outdated or wrong information about people’s addresses.  A PI has the experience, techniques, and access to proprietary databases to help you locate old friends, high school sweethearts, long-lost relatives and others.

Pet detectives often use search-and-rescue-trained animals to help locate lost pets

2. To find a lost pet. Did you know there are PIs who specialize in finding lost pets?  They use many of the same skills as PIs who find people, and they also understand animal psychology, behavior, and habits.  Many pet detectives (yes, they’re really called that) also have search-trained animals to help them track others’ lost pets.

1.  To repair identity theft. If your ID has been stolen or misused, a trained PI can help you correct your credit history, document the fraud to your creditors and banks, and clear your name in records.

Related articles

• A Story of a Botched Background Check (writingpis.wordpress.com)
• Why PIs Are Called Gumshoes: Conducting Research on Foot (thezenman.com)
• Abilene private investigators say job isn’t like TV’s romantic image (reporternews.com)