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The importance of background checks has been rising increasingly due to misunderstandings, scams, or frauds issues. One can go for a private investigator or a people lookup tool to cover each aspect of the information. Some situations occur in which you want to access criminal records or court records to put your mind at ease.

To serve this purpose, we will explain how to hire a private investigator and how much private investigator costs.

How Much Does a Private Investigator Cost?

It is not easy to hire a private investigator by handing over money and analyzing the details you want. The private investigator's cost should be more than an investment to provide you with all the required details. Well, it involves a wide variety of services ranging from very simple to complex ones.

Therefore, you need to do thorough research to have a clear understanding of why you need their service and how. The cost of hiring private investigators depends on several factors, such as experience, time, or location. Following are some details on the costs involved in hiring a private investigator.

Flat Fee

For services like background checks, assets investigation, missing person locates, you need to pay a flat fee or flat rate. Mostly, it is included when the work is clearly limited and defined. The total amount is the same in the flat-fee tasks, no matter what are the working hours of the PI.

Hourly Rates

Other than the flat fee, most private investigators charge you on their specified hourly rates. This amount depends on the experience, your demanded services, and your location. Most commonly, private investigators' cost to find someone ranges between $50 to $250/hour.

The hourly rates' services include investigating or surveying a cheating partner. Make sure you have discussed everything on price before hiring a private investigator. Some examples of hourly rates are:

  • The study of Andie's List shows that the average cost of hiring a PI is $50/hour in the US.
  • The study of Thumbtack shows the average cost was $70/hour.
  • Whereas, Trustify explains the average cost to hire a private investigator is between $40 and $200/hour.

Retainers and Deposits

Ask the private investigator if he uses the retainer agreement as a segment of their fees. It is the same as a deposit, which is to be applied in case of the expenses incurred and services rendered. Suppose a retainer for criminal search will likely be higher than the investigation for data searches.

Ensure that a retainer cost will be applied in the future. However, you will pay $500 to $10,000 initially, depending on the agency and case type. It also includes factors such as time, manner of conducting the investigation, location of the agency, and quantity of requested information.

Factors to Consider When Hiring a Private Investigator

Before you hire a private investigator online, ask them questions and find out their details. It is a good approach that helps to prevent you from higher costs, poor results, or a compromised investigation. However, it is important to consider the following factors to hire a private investigator.

Investigators Must Be Licensed

One of the top factors that you should confirm before hiring a PI is whether they have a proper license. You will need to have a license to run a business. Therefore, it should register the names, license types, and license numbers for each employee working as a private investigator.

Getting to know about these credentials will ensure you that they can do their job well. The more you ask, the easier it will hire the best investigator for your case.

Agency Should Carry General Liability Insurance

For this license, the proof is required to proceed with the process. The agency must have to display proof of the minimum of $2,000,000 in general liability insurance coverage. Even you can ask them to access the proof of the agency's insurance policy maintenance.

What a Private Investigator Can do for You

You need to outline all the possible services that your private investigator can provide you. A good and cheap private investigator should be experienced enough to dive into the information of your target person. Determine the type of your case and specialized investigators to hire.

Collecting evidence, tracking missing people, child custody investigation, asset or property search should be taken into consideration. This will allow you to access top-notch and accurate results. However, you can also schedule a few meetings to map out how a specific agency can help you.

Find Out How Much Their Services Will Cost

It is obvious that the in-depth services will cost you relatively higher than usual. But it is a good option to get the estimation from several investigators in your area to find the best.

Many private investigators work at a flat rate or hourly rate. It depends on their job experience and workload in your case. Before hiring, discuss what private investigator costs to find someone and what he offers.

You can ask them openly about their estimated cost. Lastly, you should expect to pay $50-$150 on good job services.

A Cheaper Option: Using a Background Check Website

Curious to know about some of your close relatives or friends? Besides hiring a private investigator, you can also opt for a background check website. It is a simple solution to get an in-depth insight into someone's details.

RealPeopleSearch provides a common process to verify a person or company's information. It utilizes up-to-date data and public records to give you access to all the information that you need. This background check tool looks for the identification data, address, criminal or arrest records, country, state, or social media accounts.

Why Should One Choose RealPeopleSerch?

If you wish to know why RealPeopleSearch is the best and cheapest option, you should see the reasons mentioned below:

Accurate Results
RealPeopleSearch aims to provide you with an accurate background check service. It gathers precise and reliable data to make up a comprehensive report. This service can even notify you when any details are added or changed in a report.
Flexible Cost and Easy Platform
Several background check services demand additional charges to get into the depth of the results. With RealPeopleSearch, the user can access all the details with subscription.
 Moreover, you do not need to have the technical knowledge to operate the tool. Hence, it is a simple and intuitive interface to perform background checks.
 Help & Support
RealPeopleSearch allows its users to get help and support through professionals. You can contact the team via live chat, email, or support number to seek any help related to background checks.
 Massive Database
This background check service is associated with huge databases, public records, and social media profiles. It pulls out all the basic information, addresses, criminal or court records of the target individual.

How To Do a Background Check Through RealPeopleSearch?

If you want to do a background check via RealPeopleSearch, then follow the below steps.

Step 1: Choose the Background Check Method

Following are the major options available to perform a background check.

  • By Name: Head towards the 'People Search' tool to enter the full name of a person for a background check.
  • By Address: In the 'Address Lookup' service, you can perform a background check via the address of your target person.
  • By Phone Number: Enter the phone number in the 'Phone Lookup' tool to get all the relevant background details on an individual.
  • By Email Address: From 'Email Address Lookup,' you can access all the information and related social media profiles.

Step 2: Filter the Results

Once you have entered all the details, you will get a list of relevant profiles. Filter the search results and choose your target's profile. Now hit the 'Access Report' option.

Step 3: Download and View the Report

Lastly, enter your email address and credit card information to access the report. Choose 'View My Report' to analyze comprehensive details on your target person.

What Kind of Information Can We Get From the Background Report?

A comprehensive background check report contains the critical details of the targeted search. Here are some information discussed briefly.

  • The full background report involves personal details, such as name, residential address, or birth date.
  • All the criminal and court records, financial records, and past credit inquiries are included against a person.
  • Background report also provides the target's workplace address, past and current location.
  • It also contains a dating history of a person, as well as his marital status. Moreover, a divorce record can also reveal interesting facts.
  • If an individual has any verified professional licenses or certificates, a report will show you up.

The Bottom Line

This article has explained hiring a PI and how much private investigator costs to approach an appropriate person. You can even hire a PI to perform a detailed background check. It includes the name, address, phone number, criminal or court records, and social media profiles.

Ensure that you have checked all the important factors before hiring and paying them. Furthermore, a background check tool-RealPeopleSearch also offers a detailed solution to find out the background details about your target.