Turn on the news or visit any journalistic website at the minute, and one of the top stories is going to be about the cost of living crisis.
Times are uncertain for a lot of people – there are concerns about inflation, rising energy bills and generally things seem to be getting out of hand, meaning that everyday people are having to penny-pinch more than ever just to make ends meet.
So why, then, would you consider using a service of a private investigator when budgets are already stretched? We consider ourselves, speaking on behalf of wider investigators, to be a very useful service, but are we essential when you’re struggling to keep the utilities paid?
Well, we would argue that there are many situations we can help with that transcend budget concerns – finding missing people, or helping your loved one’s lawyers with criminal defence work to keep them out of prison are things that you’ll want to find the money for regardless.
But there are also ways that we could actually help you to save money, at a time when that couldn’t be more important. Let’s explore some of the ways that using a private investigator could be financially beneficial to you, either in your personal life or in a business situation.
Identifying a co-habiting ex
A lot of people rely on money paid by their ex partner in order to survive, either as part of a divorce settlement or as child support. And the amount that your ex would have to pay is based on a number of factors, including their salary and their living circumstances, as that will dictate their expenses.
Unfortunately, a lot of exes will lie about their living situation if they have a new partner, because they know that the courts will then rule that they have lower expenses and can therefore pay a higher amount to you.
Proving that an ex is living with a new partner isn’t always easy, as they may not have told you where they live, and they might be quite careful about being seen around the home where they are co-habiting.
But if you have suspicions then a private investigator could confirm them for you, and gather the evidence needed to take your ex partner back to court and have their payments re-assessed. The initial outlay in paying for the services of a PI will be more than recovered by the extra money you’ll receive each month on an ongoing basis.
Pre-nuptial surveillance before the big day
Weddings are wonderful events that normally go off without a hitch, and many people continue to lead long lives together as a married couple. But we all know that divorces do happen, and that sometimes they can happen sooner than expected. Often partners will be cheating on the run up to a wedding, either because they’re panicking about commitment or they ‘just want one last fling’.
If your partner was cheating on you, you would want to know – and ideally before you paid all that money to the venue and the different suppliers that you’d hired for your wedding. There are often some funds that you wouldn’t be able to recover, but at least if you cancelled a wedding in advance then you should be able to recoup some of the money.
Now, let’s be clear – this is not an advocation to cancel all weddings to save money. But if you have strong suspicions that your partner is cheating, we can carry out the surveillance you need to get hard proof either way. And if your worries have foundation, and we do find evidence to suggest your partner is cheating, you can at least make a decision now that will save some financial burden.
Tracing missing persons
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people have decided to change career paths and begin working for themselves. The fact that many jobs were furloughed, and that others quite enjoyed the routine of working remotely, means that there are now a lot of freelancers looking to make their own cash.
And unfortunately, as a freelancer, sometimes you’re going to have a client that doesn’t pay your invoice, and you’ll need to chase them up. But sometimes that client can completely disappear off the face of the planet, and you might be left with a large gap in your budget that you hadn’t accounted for.
Hiring a private investigator can help you to make contact with your debtor, providing you with their last known whereabouts so that you can either re-issue invoices or begin small claims proceedings if necessary.
If you’re concerned about missed payments from clients leaving you short of funds, we can help.
Corporate surveillance
One of the biggest problems facing a lot of companies – especially small ones – is theft. Employees are often the culprits too, since they believe they can get away with it, knowing the inventory and the layout of your buildings, and sometimes even where your security cameras are covering.
Corporate surveillance is one way that we can help you to reduce theft if it’s becoming a costly problem. We can use our experience and techniques to carry out full surveillance beyond what’s capable of a couple of security cameras. And if necessary, we can even go undercover as an employee and find out information that you, as a boss, would never be privilege to.
These are just some of the ways that a private investigator can actually be financially worthwhile, but there are others too. If you have any kind of problem that is taking up your own funds, or just your own time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere, then consider whether it’s something we could help with.
And if it is, just give the EJM Investigations team a call on 01772 334700. We’ll always talk you through your options in advance and find a solution that works for your budget.