Learn More About Singapore Private Investigators

Cheapest Private Investigator Singapore TIPS...

Looking for a Singapore private investigator or a private detective immediately adds another burden to the serious problems you seek to resolve – what are the charges, costs, fees, rates, lumpsum or hourly, weekend premiums, etc? Are there regulations governing what private investigators can charge? Will you end up being overcharged, adding to the financial burdens you are already facing? 

Private investigations not being a routine part of our lives, such cost concerns are completely natural and warranted.  As of now in 2019, there are no regulations governing or recommending what private investigators can or should charge. Therefore, guidance can only be gleaned indirectly.

Singapore press reports in 2016 indicated that one week of surveillance can cost between S$5,000 to S$8,000. A 2018 report wherein private investigation agencies were interviewed in quoted price ranges of S$800 to more than S$10,000. Yes, you read that right, there’s no fee ceiling cap! Case in point would be the S$55,000 private investigator fees reported in a 2013 Singapore High Court case (BNH v BNI [2013] SGHC 283) during which the wife was only awarded S$10,000 of the outlay even though she won the case. 

Based on the above hefty indicators of the cost of private investigators in Singapore, it’s only right and proper that you are checking out private investigator charges in Singapore, looking for the cheapest. Before we deal with whether the cheapest private investigator is ideal, lets understand why the cost of private investigators in Singapore can be apparently exorbitant. 

Thorough investigations often involve immediate responses to quickly evolving events, working round-the-clock in surveillance, rain or shine, travelling overseas and working in unfamiliar environments and the occasional risk to life and limb.  Shared anecdotes of real private detectives include injuries from motorcycle accidents during pursuits of targets, sprains from falls sustained in the course of maintaining undetected surveillance and from the occasional scrapes and shoves when discovered by the targets.

Should the cost of a private investigator deter you from pursuing a solution to your problems? Perhaps not. Private investigators share that in 90% of the work they take on, clients’ suspicions are borne out. Their work is sealed with the one perfect photograph or video at the precise moment – when the guilty parties hug and kiss or when they leave the hotel the morning after. Private detectives derive their job satisfaction in knowing that they have helped to provide closure for their clients to then move on from protracted nasty relationships, be it personal or corporate.

Some final pointers as you scout around for the cheapest private investigator in Singapore. Be aware that whilst there are no regulated fee rates, all private investigators must be licensed by the Singapore Police Force and they must operate under a private investigation agency which is similarly licensed. 

There is currently no way to check whether a private investigator is licensed. However, the Singapore Police Force will confirm if a private investigation agency is licensed. This can easily be done via a general enquiry at their Feedback page which is currently at https://eservices.police.gov.sg/content/policehubefeedback/efeedback/feedbackform.html?  

In addition, only the agency and not the individual private investigator can advertise on any media. If you have been duped into engaging an unlicensed private investigator or agency, immediately terminate their services. The law protects you from a fee recovery suit from such parties. That’s right, you do not have to pay a cent!