When I first began trying to trace and find my ex-wife a concern I had was did I need some form of license to do the investigating and digging around? The legal position here is changing so to DIY Private Investigations goes undercover to reveal the license requirements you’ll need before carrying out your own private investigations in England.

If you’ve watched Police and PI detective series on TV, you’ll have seen private detectives flashing ID cards to get into secure areas, by-pass police cordons, gain entry to premises and even login to secret computer systems.

In the UK the reality is different. I was quite surprised to find that there are no legal requirements to be a private investigator or carry out investigations, there’s no legal control over who can be a private detective and you don’t need license. Anyone can do it.

Of course, this also means that there’s no Police PI badge that will gain you access to places and information normal members of the public can’t reach but for most of us that’s not important.

Private Investigator licensing, it’s changing soon!

The lack of statutory licensing for private investigators is not likely to last however. In May 2001, Parliament passed the the Private Security Industry Act which heralded a licensing system for the security industry in England. The industry has been broken down into four sectors: door minders/bouncers, wheel-clampers, manned security and private investigators, with the first three becoming regulated as of 2005 by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Private investigators are the last sector to be covered and although not covered yet it are expected to be licensed soon although no definite date has been confirmed.

If you’re thinking of becoming a professional private investigator you might want to talk to the ABI. In the absence of legal requirements, the Association of British Investigators (ABI) – a leading trade association for private investigators in England and endorsed by the Law Society – is running a membership scheme to which only investigators who have passed various criteria and complied with their standards can join.

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