Private Investigator Pricing: Understanding Fees and Services
11/22/2024
The old adage “You get what you pay for” is especially true when researching and hiring a private investigator. Not all investigative firms’ rates are the same, so understanding what services are included with their fees is very important. There are plenty of firms out there that will undercut any price you were quoted, but shopping around for private investigation work is not like comparing products at big box stores.
So how do private investigators charge for their services?
Our Fees & Services
At Discreet Investigation Service, our private investigator fees are based on the type of investigation you need. Not all investigations are the same, and even cases that are similar in needs can have different costs based on the information surrounding someone’s case.
Surveillance, for example, is based on an hourly rate. We use a sliding scale, meaning the more hours you purchase, the less the cost breaks down to per hour. All our surveillance rates for work inside Connecticut include photos and/or video, travel time and mileage, expenses within Connecticut, and court testimony. Surveillance rates outside of Connecticut work both hourly and by a flat fee, depending on where the case is located and what is involved. Pricing for out-of-state work is always based on the assignment. We offer pre-set packages of 8, 16, 24, and 40 hours (all of which can be broken down into as little as four-hour increments at any one time) and can customize packages to a client’s specific needs.
Fees for GPS tracking depend on the amount of time a unit is needed for. We sell GPS time on a seven-consecutive-day basis with discounts available based on how many weeks it is needed. However, if a GPS is purchased along with a surveillance package, discounted pricing is available as well.
We conduct many types of investigations including but not limited to criminal background checks, missing persons investigations, and conduct reports. This is where the fees change based on the specific services you need. For an accurate estimate of the cost of private investigator services, contact us for a free consultation so that we can help you find the most affordable way to get the answers you’re looking for.
Keep in mind, a large, reliable investigative agency such as ours is not going to come in at the cheapest price because fees are based on experience and our dedication to handling cases the right way from the start. This often means spending more time and resources.
The Cost of Choosing the Cheapest Private Investigator
At Discreet Investigation Services, we’ve worked with many clients who reported negative experiences with smaller or less experienced investigative agencies chosen solely because they offered the cheapest price. There are many cases we could share to illustrate that private investigator price alone is not something to focus on when it comes to investigative work. We’ve chosen just three examples to highlight below.
The Lying, Low-balling Investigator
A client came to Discreet Investigations about a cohabitation case, but then decided to hire a one-man agency that charged a third of our price. That investigator convinced the client that all they needed to do was perform drive-bys in the middle of the night and document the cars in the driveway. However, this could not have been more wrong as this is not viable proof of cohabitation. The result was that this “evidence” was thrown out in court.
To make matters worse, the investigator admitted to lying about some of the drive-bys, fabricating many of them, because he quickly realized after starting the case that he had priced it so low he would have lost money if he documented things correctly.
The Inexperienced Investigator
In another case, a client hired a low-budget private investigator to put a GPS tracker on a vehicle in order to document what an individual was up to as part of a lifestyle investigation. The problem was that the couple had been divorced for six months and it was illegal to put a GPS on the car, so the evidence obtained was all thrown out of court.
It was revealed in the deposition that the investigator was not good at mobile surveillance. They had put the GPS on the car because they kept losing the subject while tailing them. In this case, an experienced investigator would have known how to follow the individual and the restrictions on using GPS trackers.
The Low-Budget Locate Investigator
A client came to Discreet Investigations about a simple locate investigation, but then hired another investigator who undercut our price by half. This investigator fed the client all sorts of excuses as to why they could not find the person. Fed up, the client then hired us to complete the investigation and within 24 hours we had located the individual.
It's worth noting that there was no magic database responsible for closing this case. It was solved by putting in hours of field work, which is why we charge what we do for locates. Unfortunately, too many investigators don't know how to do this work and rely solely on databases which aren't usually accurate.
Choosing Your Legal Team
The other commonality between the three examples above is the legal team chosen in each case. Unfortunately for these clients, the lawyers they hired for their failed cases did not have a deep enough understanding of the cases they were taking on. It’s important to make sure that the lawyer you plan to hire specializes in the type of case you are involved in. If your existing lawyer doesn’t specialize in your case, find one that does. Much like hiring an experienced private investigator, this decision will make or break your case.
Check out our blog for more information on how to choose a private investigator.