Background Check

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Not sure if you’re being told the truth? Global Investigations’ experienced team of private detectives carry out detailed background checks for pre-employment checks, personal satisfaction and identifying criminal records across the UK and internationally.

Complete Background Screening Services

Whether you’re looking to recruit new employees, looking to expand your corporate board or even if someone new has entered your life, and you’re not certain they’re telling you the truth, our team is here to help. Our team of dedicated private investigators can provide a detailed report on anyone in the world, helping you to understand the bigger picture. 

Whatever type of background check you or your business needs, we are here to help. From credit checks and criminal record checks to right to work in the UK checks or simple reference checks, trust our dedicated private investigations team to get you the answers you need.

Criminal Record & DBS Checks

Not everyone you meet, or consider hiring, is going to be honest about their history. A criminal conviction, or any kind of criminal background, can be easy to hide if you don’t do your research. Hiring, or trusting, the wrong people can lead to incredible damage through commercial fraud, heartbreak, theft or even just damage to your reputation. 

With Global Investigations, looking into someone’s criminal history doesn’t need to be costly, time-consuming or stressful. Simply get in touch with our experienced team to conduct background checks on anyone you suspect might not be telling you the full story.

Pre-Employment & Employment Checks

A potential employee hands you their CV – you should be able to trust what it says. However, that isn’t always the case. Here in the UK, thousands of businesses every year lose out when they hire a job applicant who lied to them on their CV. 

Our pre-employment screening, background checks and reference checking is designed to help employers make the right decision for their business. Our highly-experienced private investigations team have extensive experience uncovering the truth for large corporations and smaller businesses alike. 

Ensuring candidates have the legal right to work in the UK is crucial for employers to avoid fines and penalties. Our commercial investigators can check and authenticate visas, work permits, passports, and other documents to confirm a candidate’s eligibility. We’ll ensure you remain fully compliant with Home Office regulations.

Thorough reference checks are vital for verifying a candidate’s background and qualifications. Our private investigators will conduct comprehensive reference interviews with previous employers, colleagues, and contacts provided. We’ll obtain detailed accounts of the candidate’s responsibilities, achievements, work ethic, integrity, and other relevant insights to make sure they are truly as presented.

Certain industries require additional compliance checks before officially hiring candidates. Our background research team are experts in background screening regulations across many industries, including financial services, healthcare, transportation, and more. We’ll conduct all necessary compliance checks tailored to your specific industry standards and requirements.

Beyond basic background checks, our private investigators can perform in-depth evaluations of a candidate’s true skills, character, and potential value-add for your organisation. We utilise various assessment techniques to provide unique insights into a candidate’s integrity, work ethic, competencies, motivations and more to determine their expected on-the-job performance and cultural fit.

Our comprehensive employment background checks include identity verification, employment history, academic credentials, professional qualifications, financial/credit checks, global sanctions list screening, and more. Our experts leave no stone unturned in verifying a candidate’s background to reduce your risks throughout the onboarding process.

Some roles require assessments of a candidate’s physical, mental, and emotional suitability, and you can’t always rely on your candidate’s disclosure. Our recruitment investigators can conduct drug & alcohol testing, personality assessments, psychological evaluations, health screenings, and other specialist suitability checks to confirm a candidate’s ability to properly fulfil the demands of the role.

Enhanced Due Diligence Checks

If you work in an industry which requires in-depth, enhanced due diligence checks, we can assist with those too. Over the years, we’ve worked with a wide range of businesses, including those in the financial sectors or with large-scale, international profiles, to provide comprehensive, enhanced due diligence checks to make certain that people are who they say they are, and discover anything which hasn’t been disclosed during standard due diligence checks. 

Company Directorship Checks

There are few roles more important to a business than that of its directors. Company directors often deal with the legal burdens of a business – as such, it’s important that they are completely trustworthy and beyond reproach.

Here at Global Investigations, we have extensive experience in carrying out company directorship checks, even on people who you should be able to trust. 

Our experienced investigators thoroughly check for any past issues that could legally disqualify candidates from specific roles, such as criminal records, driving offences, financial malpractice, and other red flags relevant to your industry. We'll ensure you don't unknowingly hire someone with a disqualifying background.

Financial problems or irresponsible history can negatively impact a candidate's suitability. Our private investigators dig deep into credit history, bankruptcy filings, loan defaults, court judgments, and other financial issues. We'll uncover any warning signs of poor financial responsibility.

For senior-level candidates, we research their professional network and partnerships across previous roles. This offers insights into their industry relationships and stature. We'll determine what strategic partnerships they could bring to your organisation. Similarly, we can provide background checks for directors of other businesses, making sure you're working on developing the most important relationships for you and your business.

Sometimes candidates fail to disclose other positions, contracts, ventures or obligations that could present a conflict of interest. Our directorship researchers will thoroughly analyse any unexplained gaps in employment history through our detailed screening process, and dig deeper to ensure candidates don't have hidden commitments.

Vehicle History Checks

Whether you’re considering buying a second-hand vehicle, or you’re working in insurance, finance or retail, it’s essential that you understand the vehicle’s history before you commit.

While not all that common in the UK, people have been known to fake logbooks and hide accident histories which can impact insurance rates, vehicle reliability and overall value.

Our investigations team are able to provide a complete range of vehicle history and background checks to ensure you know what you’re buying, and you get what you pay for. 

Purchasing or selling a used vehicle involves substantial risk if you don't have full transparency into its history and condition. Our vehicle investigators conduct comprehensive vehicle history checks to uncover any issues such as odometer fraud, outstanding finance, major damage, stolen status, and more. We provide full-detailed reports so you can buy or sell any vehicle with total peace of mind.

Without professional vehicle history insights, you could dramatically overpay for a used car or lose money selling yours under value. Our experienced team can even assess current market prices along with a vehicle's full history to determine fair valuation. We ensure you don't get ripped off when buying or selling used cars.

Large auto dealers, rental fleets and leasing companies have significant financial exposure across hundreds of vehicles. Our automated monitoring solutions and bulk history checks provide ongoing oversight of entire inventories. We quickly flag any issues with specific vehicles so you can optimise decisions and safeguard your financial interests.

Personal Background Checks 

As investigators, we are also regularly contacted by clients who are concerned their spouse may be being unfaithful. Whilst a UK background search might not seem like the most relevant course of action, they can actually be very useful in uncovering previous infidelity and the webs of lies that are often told to trusting partners.

Our UK background searches delve into a person’s identifying data, starting with their name and address and leading on from there. We are very thorough in our investigations, so you can be assured you will receive an accurate and complete investigation of their history.

Thanks to our discreet, professional investigation services, we can provide a complete overview as to a person’s personal information, employment history, character and even an insight into their personal finances.

At Global Investigations, we’re proud to provide some of the most detailed and comprehensive background checks and personal reports in the industry. Our reports typically include the following information:

Current address & phone number:

We verify a candidate’s stated current home address and phone numbers through multiple sources. This confirms identity and residence.

Address History

Our address history checks trace a candidate’s past residences over the last 5-10 years. We search property records to identify all associated previous addresses and any red flags.

Birthdate & Location

Date of birth is confirmed through official identification documents like passports, driving licenses and birth certificates to validate a candidate’s stated age.

Known Aliases/maiden name

Any previous names or aliases, including maiden names, are uncovered through marriage/divorce records, social media, court documents and other sources. This avoids identity concealment.

Property ownership

We check property deeds and mortgage records to reveal all current and past real estate owned. This identifies any undisclosed assets and ensures candidates have truthfully represented their property portfolio.

Bankruptcies & County Court judgments

Official bankruptcy filings and CCJs are found to assess financial responsibility. Multiple instances can indicate poor money management or heightened fraud/theft risk.

Known Relatives & Acquaintances

Through public records and on-the-ground research, we uncover family connections, roommates/housemates and neighbour insights to cross-reference and verify a candidate’s background.

Personal assets

Our investigators check investment/brokerage accounts, expensive property records, business ownership filings, luxury asset purchases and other sources to reveal the full scope of personal assets which could unveil conflicts.

Marriages & divorces

Marital history including multiple divorces can signal instability. We uncover all marriages, divorces, separations and related records through official channels and interviews.

Businesses; live and failed

Current and prior business ownership/investment interests reveal potential conflicts, legal issues, qualifications, financial resources, judgments and integrity concerns that candidates should disclose.

Press, media and internet history

A candidate’s media presence and statements/activities online can provide many additional insights, both positive and negative. Our checks explore this angle fully.

Employment and career history

Through extensive interviews, CV fact-checking, and records research, we verify employment tenure, roles, responsibilities, reasons for departure, achievements, conduct and capabilities.

Professional capabilities

Appropriate skills testing, credential verification, work sample analysis and behavioral assessments are used to evaluate true capabilities compared to any exaggerated resume claims.

If you need insights before moving in with a new partner, our cohabitation investigators can conduct discreet background research and surveillance. We uncover any unknown marriage/divorce history, children, financial issues, questionable behaviours, and other important personal insights so you can make informed decisions.

Before marriage, our comprehensive background checks provide total visibility into your partner's history and character. We uncover everything from past marriages, children, careers, education, financial status, legal issues, fidelity concerns, and more. Our insights reduce risk of annulment down the road.

Find Out More About Our Premarital Background Checks >

To protect your assets, we perform deep background research into the financial history and creditworthiness of partners, investors, or other associates. Our investigators uncover bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, hidden debt, fraud indicators, and other financial issues you should be aware of.

For international romantic partners or foreign business associates, we conduct worldwide background checks to uncover red flags. Our global investigators access international records and databases in over 100 countries to provide a complete picture, reducing your global risk.

Background Checks: Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Background Check?

A background check is an investigation into a person’s history to verify facts they have presented, such as employment, education, qualifications, criminal record, and more. It provides insights into someone’s background to determine suitability.

Find Out More About Background Checks Here >

Who Can Use a Background Check?

Any individual, company, or organisation can utilise our professional background screening services. Common users include employers screening candidates, lenders assessing loan applicants, landlords vetting tenants, and more.

How Long Does a Background Check Take?

We normally require 18 – 20 working days to complete a check on a standard time frame. If, however, you require it expedited, this can be achieved but the cost is increased and a surcharge of normally 30% is added to the total payment.

How Much Does a Background Check Cost?

The cost of a background check is always on a case-by-case basis. This is because no case is ever the same and the amount of work undertaken can vary greatly from job to job. We will work out your costs after analysing exactly what you require, how much work we will have to do and the area and country we will work the case from.

At Global Investigations, we specialise in discreet, comprehensive searches which include a criminal record check, employee background checks, and employee criminal background checks as part of a thorough background checking process.

Who Does Your Background Checks?

Our UK-wide team of licensed, experienced private investigators conduct all background checks. We utilise legal methods and our network of global contacts to uncover deeper insights than most of our competitors, meaning we can offer a detailed, fully-rounded view of the subject of the background check.

Why Are Private Investigators the Right Choice for Background Checks?

Our licensed investigators have specialised training in research, data analysis, compliance, and evaluation. We leverage the optimal mix of human discernment and technical capabilities to provide reliable, actionable results.

Absolutely. We operate fully within legal parameters using ethical investigative techniques. Where required, candidates are made aware and provide consent. We comply with DPA, GDPR, and all relevant regulations, in addition to the employment background check act, rehabilitation of offenders act, and any other acts which may be relevant to our research.