6 Professions That Use Private Investigators

Oftentimes Private Investigators are thought of as serving mainly the private sector. They are who you would call when you have a missing persons case, a case of infidelity or a private issue that you need resolved. In reality, this is a misconception based on common stereotypes. Private Investigators frequently serve the professional sector, and there are many careers where you may find yourself one day needing the help of a private eye. In this blog post we outline the 7 main professions that use Private Investigators, and what they typically rely on them for.

1. Doctor’s office- Doctor’s offices and hospitals rely on private investigators to research cases of potential abuse for their patients, background checks for employees and most importantly, malpractice lawsuits against the doctors, nurses, or technical professionals on their team. Private investigators often also research malpractice cases for patients who were the victim of malpractice.  This can go both ways; however, oftentimes it is the doctor’s office that relies on the private investigation firm to help protect them from unfair accusations.
2. Attorneys- Attorneys often use private investigators to help them build a case against opposing counsel. Private investigators help them to collect evidence, conduct background checks on the opposing counsel, check their facts, disprove allegations they may be making against a client and generally dig up information surrounding the case. Private investigators also help clients and attorneys understand the laws surrounding common issues arising in court, such as a spouse’s right to surveillance family computers or a business owners right to spy on its employees. As lawyers commonly need to have a comprehensive idea of legal restrictions, and often are caught in cases of mistrust, betrayal, and suspicion; they are one of the private investigation industry’s most common clients.
3. Business owners- Business owners need to hire private investigators for various activities, which also makes them one of the private investigation industry’s most popular clients. As expected, P.I.’s often are hired simply to conduct background checks on employees, but more importantly, they are known to investigate suspicious activity in the workplace and investigate possible identity theft, monetary theft or fraud within the company or between competing companies. Private investigators can also help to regulate accounting irregularities or help handle publicity concerns for businesses. No matter the issue, business owners can rely on private investigators for confidential, fast investigations into sensitive issues.6
4. Human Resources Departments- Human resource representatives are another common client of private investigators because of their concern for employees. HR reps mainly use private investigators for background checks, but they also commonly use them for investigation into employee misconduct, such as fraud, employee theft and sexual harassment. Private investigators also commonly help human resource representatives look into fraudulent insurance claim investigations, mainly when employees abuse the disability insurance offered by the company. There are multiple issues where HR departments hire private investigators to look into their employees and regulate disputes, often in the attempt to avoid legal action.
5. Accountants- Accountants are focused on tracking numbers and answering financial questions, which is why their line of work often intersects with private investigators. Accountants have been known to use private investigators to help investigate bookkeeping issues like missing funds, fudged numbers or fraudulent checks.
6. IRS representatives- The IRS also sometimes needs to enlist the help of private investigators when researching tax fraud. Tax fraud can be a complex and complicated web that is difficult to untangle without the technology and knowledge that a industry specific private investigator can offer.

These professions comprise the issues of the majority of private investigation work. If you are someone in one of these positions and dealing with an issue listed above, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here.