Hiring Private Investigators vs. Doing it Yourself

By Teresa Saurey, February 17, 2017

A private investigator is a licensed professional who specializes in gathering evidence, uncovering facts, and bringing the truth to their clients–whether the truth is good or bad. Private investigators can cover a variety of different cases. There are private investigators who specialize in criminal investigations, background checks, and even catching cheating spouses.

No matter what it is you’re trying to find out, chances are there’s a private investigator who has experience doing the detective work. But is it really necessary to hire a private investigator just to get the truth? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

PROS:

Private investigators are trained, experienced, and have access to a lot of resources the average person wouldn’t even know they needed.

As licensed professionals, they have better access to public and private records that can be vital to the case. Their experience helps them work quickly and efficiently.

They know the laws. Where a Do-It-Yourself detective might accidentally break the law, private investigators know how to use the law to their advantage. And because they are licensed professionals, they have certain legal rights that a Do-It-Yourself detective won’t, such as the ability to conduct surveillance without conflict of interest.

What if they get caught by the person they’re investigating? An unidentified private investigator is a lot less suspicious than, say, somebody the person knows.

CONS:

The most obvious downside to hiring a professional is the cost. Depending on your agreement, you could be paying an hourly rate, and those hours can add up fast.

Besides the cost of professional help, you also have to remember that you’re hiring somebody to look into your private situation. That means you may have to tell your private investigator many personal details that you may be uncomfortable divulging. Phone records, online chats, emails, etc. may need to be surrendered for the sake of the investigation.

PROS:

The best part of doing your own investigation is privacy. If you’re in a situation where you need some kind of investigation, chances are it’s not a situation you can share with just anybody. If you take on the task of being your own detective, you save yourself the hassle (and discomfort) of revealing the details of your private life to a stranger. By doing it all yourself, you don’t have to share anything with anybody if you don’t want to.

If you’re in a situation where you need some kind of investigation, chances are it’s not a situation you can share with just anybody. If you take on the task of being your own detective, you save yourself the hassle (and discomfort) of revealing the details of your private life to a stranger. By doing it all yourself, you don’t have to share anything with anybody if you don’t want to.

CONS:

If you’re going to set out to do your own investigations, the first thing you’ll find out is that it takes a lot more time than you probably anticipated. You could end up spending hours a day searching and it could still be weeks or months before you’re able to uncover any substantial evidence.

Time is money. If you were billing for your own time, you could end up paying hundreds of dollars. And don’t forget the biggest setback: Your lack of training and experience could lead to expensive mistakes or even more wasted time.

Private investigators have the professional experience to know how to do things correctly and quickly–without breaking any laws. Is it worth losing your own time and money when you could be doing it wrong? Use your best judgment when weighing out the options.

In the end, it’s really up to you. Luckily on https://socialcatfish.com we have both options at your disposal. For regular searches, you can try the main site, https://socialcatfish.com, or you can even enlist one of our search specialists to your cause by following this link, https://socialcatfish.com/hire-us/. Each specialist will tailor their search for your specific needs and give you a nice printable report for you to keep.