Are Private Investigators Licensed in the UK?
May 15, 2021 - Reading time: 7 minutes
Updated on: April 30, 2024
When most people think of a private investigator, they might envisage a middle-aged man donning a trench coat and sporting a metal badge denoting their authority as a detective. However, the reality of modern detective agencies in the UK could not be further from these stereotypes.
Are private investigators licensed in the UK? The simple answer to this question is no. Despite proposals to regulate the investigation industry, at the time of writing there is currently no licensing system in place for private investigators in the UK. Anyone, with or without experience or training, can claim to be a private investigator and setup their own agency.
Private investigators working in the UK are effectively laymen and are not afforded any special powers or authority. Private investigators must work within, and abide by, the same laws as everyone else.
Photo: Private investigators in the UK are not issued with badges!
Should private investigators be licensed?
Should the government introduce a licensing system for private investigators? The answer to this question will vary depending upon who you ask. Back in 2013, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government drew up plans to introduce a licensing system for private investigators. However, these plans were never followed up on, and they did not become legislation.
At the time of writing, there are no publicly available plans for private investigators to become licensed in the UK.
While some detectives would favour a system which can be used to vet private investigators and ensure that they do not have criminal records, or that they are suitably trained and/or insured; many detectives believe that such a system would serve only to add red tape and make their lives more difficult.
Ultimately, licensing adds to the overheads of detective agencies, with these costs being passed onto our clients. In the USA for example, most states have licensing systems with numerous requirements for private detectives – on the whole, hiring a PI in the states is substantially more expensive than in the UK, though whether the increased fees are directly related to the existence of licensing could be up for debate.
While there is not currently a government mandated licensing system for private investigators in the UK, many detectives will join professional bodies and associations which have their own requirements and guidelines. Membership of these associations is entirely optional.
You may find private investigators claiming that they are licensed as they hold membership in relevant associations – while this is a matter of semantics, we feel that describing yourself as licensed on the basis of having joined a private group or association is somewhat deceitful.
The value which is brought by the membership of private investigation associations is a matter for yourself, the consumer, to decide upon.
Though it should be noted that professional associations incur costs such as registration fees and annual dues; if you decide to instruct an agency which boasts an impressive array of memberships, then you may find their fees are higher to compensate for their increased overheads.
While professional associations can provide assurances to the public that they are instructing reputable agencies, these associations ultimately exist to make money, and in some cases, you may find a reluctance for them to involve themselves in disputes between detective agencies and their clients.
The benefits of licensing private investigators
Believe it or not, most countries do not have government backed systems for licensing private investigators. The United States however does have stringent licensing systems for PIs and often serves as a primary example when we discuss licensing.
In the United States, licensed private investigators are often granted access to government databases and systems which are not open to the general public. For example, in some states it is possible for private investigators to run checks on vehicle license plates in order to check the vehicle’s owner, as well running criminal record checks for their clients and accessing other confidential data.
In some parts of America, licensed private investigators are also exempt from window tinting laws, which provide impunity for them to hide in their cars behind dark blacked out windows.
In the UK, there have been two notable pushes for the introduction of licensing, once in 2001, and again in 2013. Despite discussions in parliament, these proposals ultimately came to nothing, and PIs remain unlicensed to this day. On both occasions where proposals were drawn up, there were no provisions for private investigators to gain access to privileged or confidential data, as far as we can tell.
With the current legal framework surrounding data protection, GDPR, and the like, our view is that it would be extremely unlikely that a licensing system would afford British private investigators access to any type of confidential or privileged information.
Licensing systems typically provide protection to private investigators against stalking laws, and may help to explain or justify their behaviour if they are ever questioned by the authorities. However, our view is that a competent private detective will not make themselves known whilst conducting surveillance, and so the benefit of such legal protections are likely to prove negligible in most cases.
Of course, security guards in the UK are bound by far more regulations than private investigators, and rightly so. Many activities require a license issued by the Security Industry Association (SIA), including close protection, door supervision, security guarding, vehicle immobilisation, or even monitoring CCTV cameras which cover a public space. The SIA licensing system is designed to ensure that those working in such roles are properly vetted, trained, and to help keep rouge elements out of the security industry.
The role of private investigators is much different to those working in the security industry, as we typically remain unnoticed and ‘invisible’ to the subject of the investigation.
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