You asked us

"As part of my information on an individual, I have a National Insurance number. Can you do anything with this?" 

In a word - No. It is illegal and in breach of Data Protection rules for us to use this information for enquiries. However, it can on a rare occasion be valuable for confirming a persons identification. The same also applies to Passport numbers.

London House News

I am delighted to announce that our newest Franchise Owner is just about to finish his 2 week residential training programme.

Mike King has a background in the design and print industry and more recently as Manager of major UK companies at Senior Executive level responsible for operations and staff in multi-site locations.  

Mike will be our Franchise Owner for the Cheltenham & Gloucester area covering the GL postcodes. Welcome!

We have further training dates scheduled for August and September for more new Franchise Owners.  

It is worth mentioning that all of our Franchise Owners are CRB checked, fully insured, registered for Data Protection , hold a Consumer Credit Licence and are members of the CSA. 

You asked us

"In light of all of the current spotlight on the investigations industry, why are you different from investigators working for the news media?".

This is a good question and one that I feel will be asked not only to ourselves but also to a number of other reputable investigators around the Country.

Our industry is highly regulated and we are governed by the Data Protection Act 1998, Regulation of  Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), Human Rights Act (HRA) , the OFT, OFCOM, the FSA and our own industry Code of Practice as members of The Credit Services Association. It is important that London House maintains its integrity in the industry and therefore we are happy to adhere to these regulations. It is important for our own reputation but also that of our clients. As is currently being seen, reputational risk is not to be ignored.

There are legal and ethical boundaries to be respected and this has clearly not happened with the News of the World case. We are asked, on occasion, what can we do with mobile phone numbers (we can only call them!), NI numbers, passport numbers, bank account details and the simple answer is "nothing".  It is illegal for us to try and access these records or to obtain subject information using these records. 

  

Nor are we swayed by the fees paid for this illegal activity. No amount of money is worth me, or our team, spending our days enjoying the hospitality at one of our Majesty's establishments.

If it is illegal, London house will not be involved.

London House News

I am delighted to announce that our newest Franchise Owner has just completed his 2 week residential training programme.

Allan Fern has a long background in the construction industry at executive level and will be our Franchise Owner for the Dudley area covering the DY postcodes. Welcome aboard!

We have more training dates scheduled for June and September for further new Franchisees.

It is worth mentioning that all of our Franchise owners are CRB checked, fully insured, registered for Data Protection , hold a Consumer Credit Licence and are members of The CSA. 

You asked us........

"A topic of interest to me would be to have a clear idea of how far you can go to track down information about people bearing in mind data protection constraints".

We have to work within the 8 principles of the DPA 1998, however the real guidelines for practical purposes are twofold:

-          We can get any information on the public record - sometimes using our databases there is more than first imagined

-          We can use any information freely given by a member of the public (telephone or in the field) providing we do not hold ourselves out to be anybody other than who we truly are - this is where the skill of the right conversation/approach is helpful

Very often a linked address on a database sets us off on another path or we discover additional property owned. Neighbours sometimes give clues - away at their holiday home , on their boat etc

In the end it comes down to cost and value of the case.

We also have all the surveillance resource as you will have seen from last months e-newsletter and can give advice re best/most cost effective deployment. Following someone to another address or different place of work sometimes produces the result but if there is nothing to find we will not find it ! Also assets offshore are difficult to pin down.

There are many variables and we are always happy to discuss individual cases. 

Status Enquiries

We can provide reports from the basic to the most complex providing information on an individual or company. Reports may be obtained through interviewing subjects or through discreet enquiries, always compliant with current legislation, including Data Protection.

Missing Person Enquiries

When contact is lost with a client or debtor London House will trace the whereabouts of the subject and report the new address plus any other relevant information. Based on our unique field force and gathering intelligence our results are considerably more successful than more traditional telephone enquiries or database searches. All work complies with current legislation including Data Protection.