London House Top 10

For our clients we undertake a mixed variety of work that covers the full remit of investigative services. Our client base, which continues to grow, know that they can come to London House with a business problem and they can be confident of our professional help and advice. At the end of the year we thought we would have a look at our most popular services provided in 2012 and these are listed below. 

Clicking on the service will provide more information

• Tracing missing persons/absconded debtors
• Process Serving
• Evidence of means interviews/status reports
• Discreet Enquiries/investigations
• Pre-Repossession Reports on properties
• Property Repossession (Residential & Commercial)
• Surveillance operations
• Commercial Debt Collection
• Debt & Mortgage Shortfall Counselling
• Insurance Claims Investigations

An Open and Shut Case

One of our solicitor clients asked us to attend at a property that they had repossessed using another agent. The property was advertised for sale and the estate agent had visited to make sure everything was okay. He found that his keys would not give him access.It seemed that the doors may have been screwed shut from the inside.The curtains were closed but he thought he saw them "twitch". We were asked to visit and find out what was going on.

On attending at the address we had a look around the front of the property and whilst the curtains were indeed closed, we saw that one of the lower floor windows was closed to but not shut properly or locked. On opening the window and the curtains we found that the living room was full of someone's personal possessions.

We then spoke to a neighbour, who was not aware of the repossession, and told us that the former occupant was still living there. She gave us access through a shared locked gate to the rear we saw that one of the windows had been broken. He had therefore broken back into his former property and was coming and going through the front window, while telling our client he was having to live at a local hotel.

 

Wherever You Go

We were asked by one of our overseas clients to visit a debtor to interview them about their finances and to get a closer feel for their asset base. The subjects owed a large amount of money to a financier abroad and our client wanted the debt transferred and registered in the UK to allow them to obtain judgment and proceed with enforcement.

When they had originally borrowed the money they provided a schedule of their assets both in New Zealand (where they resided at the time) and in the UK. When the borrowing went into default they fled back to the UK. We tracked them down and met with them. Whilst not particularly pleased to see us they saw the error of their ways and co-operated with us. We were able to establish that they did indeed have a good asset base and were also in full time, well paid, employment. The liabilities they had were comfortably manageable.

Armed with this information, our client began enforcement procedures and ultimately a repayment programme agreed via the sale of property assets.

Focus on......Trace and Discreet Enquiries

When a client has lost contact with a debtor, we are often asked to trace the debtor's whereabouts and then try and investigate what assets they may have without raising their suspicions.

As you will know, trace is one of our areas of expertise and our Franchise Owners are highly skilled in field trace work. We often overcome a number of difficulties in locating people who do not want to be found, but we remain determined and our success rate of c70% confirms our abilities.

When found, we may be asked to investigate the debtor's assets. Obviously, this would normally be their residential property but we also look out for such things as vehicles, other property investments, business interests etc. Where possible we will also seek to gather information from neighbours in an effort to perhaps confirm our thoughts or just provide us with a little snippet of detail. It should be remembered, of course, that there are also occasions when there is no new information or details to find!

Lets Chat

One of our clients asked us to confirm the residential address of a debtor and to undertake enquiries into any assets that they may have. They had understood that he owned a property overseas. 

Our local manager began making enquiries in the area and was able to confirm that the debtor was still living at the address provided by our client - he was clearly avoiding them. Continuing the enquiries she took a stroll past the address one morning and the subject was in the front garden. She decided to strike up a casual conversation and they were soon chatting away. With the subject none the wiser, she came away from the conversation with not only first hand verification that he lived at the address but also with details of his various properties overseas and the websites through which he rented them out. A positive result for our client which wouldn't have been possible if our managers never left their desks.

Focus On........International work

It has been some time now since we rebranded to "International". This change was to reflect the growing levels of instructions we receive from our clients to undertake work overseas. On a daily basis we are receiving requests to begin work on instructions abroad.
We have a large and reliable network of agents around the world who work to the same high standards as ourselves and always within the relevant laws of the country in which they are operating.
We are able to provide a full range of services overseas including: trace, surveillance, discreet enquiries, asset investigations and process serving

You asked us

"We recently instructed you to undertake a trace enquiry overseas, but the fees were noticeably different to your normal ones. Why?" 

For international work we use trusted agents worldwide. Wherever possible these agents are also members of either The Credit Services Association or a recognised overseas association. When it comes to fees we are very much in their hands but we do try and get quotes from a variety of agents if possible for comparison purposes. Fee structures overseas are very different to here and it may be because of a lack of central records/databases (much more investigative work involved) or even the distance involved in travelling to assignments. In some cases there are fees payable to overseas departments such as "Land Registry" records that are considerably higher than our own. Each country is different, indeed there are even some countries where we will not recommend work be undertaken because of the unusual cash payments that are sometimes requested. 

You asked us

"I have a couple of cases where it is believed that the subject has moved overseas. Can you help?" 

Nearly always, yes. Some years ago we rebranded to London House International to reflect the increasing volumes of work we are doing abroad. In the sixteen years since we were established we have built up a large and reliable network of overseas agents who carry appropriate accreditations and are members of our trade associations. 

International work can sometimes be difficult and complicated and we need to appreciate different cultures, language and legal systems. We will always obtain quotations for you and advise you of the best course of action. Sometimes our own managers will travel overseas to carry out the more complex enquiries and this can be more cost effective. Please telephone for free advice and no obligation quotations.

Focus on.......Trace & Discreet Investigations

When a client has lost contact with a debtor, we are often asked to trace the debtor's whereabouts and then try and investigate what assets they may have without raising their suspicions.

As you will know, trace is one of our areas of expertise and our Franchise Owners are highly skilled in field trace work. We often overcome a number of difficulties in locating people who do not want to be found, but we remain determined and our success rate of c70% confirms our abilities.

When found, we may be asked to investigate the debtor's assets. Obviously, this would normally be their residential property but we also look out for such things as vehicles, other property investments, business interests etc. Where possible we will also seek to gather information from neighbours in an effort to perhaps confirm our thoughts or just provide us with a little snippet of detail. It should be remembered, of course, that there are also occasions when there is no new information or details to find!

What's in a name?

Following a bank repossession of a property, we were instructed by the bank's solicitors to trace the former owner and ascertain whether she had any other assets as there was a shortfall following the sale.

In trying to locate the subject, enquiries into the name given became difficult because the bank's understanding was that she was married and that all correspondence was in the matrimonial name. It subsequently became apparent that the subject wasn't married and only used the name as an alias. We therefore tried to trace the subject using her maiden name and established several people in the UK as possibilities, from which we narrowed the list down to 3.

Further extensive enquiries followed and after a series of discreet investigations at the appropriate locations we managed to obtain a positive match. Our enquiries tell us that she owns the property (in her maiden name) as well as other assets. The bank can now consider their position in light of this information thanks to the strengths of a field force investigation.

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. 

Trace Enquiries Agency Services

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 trace enquiries results are considerably more successful than more traditional telephone enquiries or database searches.

All our trace enquiry work complies with the current legislation, including Data Protection.