Version 1.0. Effective date: 13 September 2026.
London Private Investigators Ltd, trading as London Private Investigators (“LPI”, “we”, “us” or “our”), provides professional investigation services throughout London, the United Kingdom and, where agreed, internationally.
Registered office: 167–169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF
Company registration number: 17015741
VAT registration number: 513133342
ICO registration number: ZC106337
Email: info@londonprivateinvestigators.com
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3834 9289
These terms apply to investigative services accepted by LPI, including surveillance, relationship and matrimonial investigations, corporate and workplace investigations, tracing, background and due-diligence work, OSINT, technical and specialist services, evidence gathering and other lawful services described in an accepted Quote.
Agreed Hours means the exact scheduled duration, dates, start and end times, shifts or other agreed end point stated in the Quote.
Assignment means the services described in the accepted Quote.
Authorised Contact means the person identified by the Client as authorised to approve extra time, expenses, operational changes, pauses and stand-downs.
Booked Commitment means any assignment-specific quantity or value of reserved capacity that is prominently identified in the Quote as committed. It may be expressed as Agreed Hours, shifts, operative-hours or a fixed amount. There is no Booked Commitment unless the Quote expressly states one.
Business Client means a Client acting wholly or mainly for purposes relating to its trade, business, craft or profession.
Client means the person or organisation instructing LPI.
Confirmed Team means investigators, including any relief team, whom LPI has committed to the Assignment.
Consumer means an individual acting wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession.
Operative Hours means the total billable hours of all operatives assigned. They are calculated by adding the billable time of each operative, as stated in the Quote.
Quote means LPI's written quotation, engagement letter or statement of work accepted by the Client.
Stand-down means a Client instruction to stop, suspend or materially curtail an Assignment after resources have been reserved or work has begun.
4.1 An enquiry does not commit the Client or require LPI to accept an Assignment.
4.2 Before booking, LPI will provide a Quote and access to or a durable copy of these terms, together with the Surveillance Booking & Cancellation Policy and any consumer cancellation information that applies.
4.3 A contract is formed only when LPI confirms acceptance after the Client has accepted the Quote in writing and paid any required advance payment. Written acceptance may include signature, email, an affirmative electronic checkbox, an express written message or another durable written record accepted by LPI.
4.4 Payment counts as acceptance only where the Quote and applicable terms were supplied before payment and the payment request clearly said that payment confirms acceptance.
4.5 If the documents conflict, the following order applies: (a) an expressly agreed written variation; (b) the Quote; (c) these terms; (d) the Surveillance Booking & Cancellation Policy; and (e) the invoice. An invoice records charges under an existing contract and does not create a new obligation after booking.
4.6 Nothing in these terms removes or restricts a Consumer's mandatory statutory rights.
5.1 The Client must give accurate and complete information about the purpose of the Assignment, the subject, relevant relationships, known risks, legal proceedings and intended use of the results.
5.2 The Client confirms that the instruction is for a legitimate purpose and that the Client has authority to supply any personal information, documents, vehicles, premises or equipment made available to LPI.
5.3 The Client must promptly disclose new information that may affect legality, proportionality, safety, tactics, scheduling or price.
5.4 LPI may require identification, proof of authority or legal advice before accepting or continuing an instruction.
5.5 The Client must not direct LPI to harass, intimidate, trespass, unlawfully access data, intercept communications, misrepresent findings or carry out any unlawful activity.
6.1 The Client may request any duration. LPI will assess whether the requested period and team are operationally feasible and will either accept them or propose an alternative before booking.
6.2 The Quote will state, as applicable: the objective; exact Agreed Hours; number of operatives on duty; any relief-team structure; total Operative Hours; hourly rate or fixed fee; VAT; included reporting; authorised expenses; advance payment; Booked Commitment; cancellation basis; and the Authorised Contact. A Consumer Quote will display the total price including mandatory VAT prominently. A Business Client Quote may also show the VAT-exclusive price where the VAT treatment is clear.
6.3 The website does not create a standard surveillance duration or minimum. The accepted Quote alone defines the Assignment's Agreed Hours and any Booked Commitment.
6.4 LPI will not extend the Agreed Hours without written approval from the Authorised Contact, unless the Quote contains a clear pre-agreed authority limit. The applicable rate and any limit must be stated in the Quote.
6.5 Billable travel, mobilisation, handover, waiting, reporting or other time applies only as stated in the Quote or later agreed in writing.
7.1 Fees will be confirmed before work begins. Consumer-facing prices and Consumer Quotes will include mandatory VAT in the total price. Business Client prices may be shown exclusive of VAT where this is stated clearly and the VAT and total payable are also identified before acceptance.
7.2 Work outside the agreed scope, additional authorised time and reasonable operational or third-party expenses may be charged separately at the agreed rates.
7.3 The Authorised Contact may approve additional time, expenses or a revised scope in writing. In an urgent safety or evidential situation, LPI may take reasonable protective action within any written authority limit already agreed.
8.1 When LPI accepts a Quote, it may reserve operatives, relief teams, vehicles, accommodation, travel, equipment and specialist providers for the Agreed Hours. LPI may decline other work or incur commitments in reliance on the booking.
8.2 Any Booked Commitment must be displayed prominently in the Quote beside its monetary value, the total price and the advance payment. It must identify the resources or reserved capacity it is intended to cover.
8.3 No duration or minimum commitment is imported from general website wording. If the Quote says “none”, or does not state a Booked Commitment, none is assumed.
8.4 A Booked Commitment does not permit double recovery or an excessive cancellation charge. Any final cancellation or Stand-down account remains subject to clauses 12–16, saved-cost deductions, reasonable mitigation and mandatory Consumer rights.
9.1 Surveillance is inherently uncertain. LPI cannot guarantee that a subject will appear, remain in public view, follow an expected route, remain unaware of surveillance, or that continuous observations, photographs or video will be obtained.
9.2 Operational conditions may include narrow, rural or lightly trafficked roads; sudden turns or stops; changes of vehicle or transport; multiple exits; congestion; restricted sightlines; private property; adverse weather; poor lighting; counter-surveillance behaviour; and the need to comply with traffic, safety, privacy and data-protection requirements.
9.3 A quiet period, absence of relevant activity, temporary loss of contact or reasonable tactical withdrawal does not by itself establish a failure to provide the service. LPI remains responsible for exercising reasonable care and skill.
9.4 Fees relate to professional time, reserved resources and work properly undertaken, not a promised result.
10.1 LPI and its investigators retain operational control over positioning, following distance, driving, communications, continuity, handovers and whether an activity remains lawful, safe and proportionate.
10.2 Investigators will not maintain contact at any cost. LPI may create distance, break contact, reposition, change vehicles or operatives, use a clean relief team, pause or withdraw where reasonably necessary to protect safety, legality, proportionality, evidence or the Assignment.
10.3 A tactical disengagement is not automatically a cancellation. The Assignment may remain active while LPI assesses re-acquisition, repositioning, another lawful method or a clean handover.
10.4 Scheduled time may remain billable during a tactical pause where the Confirmed Team continues operational work, repositions, remains immediately available or cannot reasonably be released or redeployed, provided this treatment is consistent with the Quote and applicable law.
11.1 If LPI reasonably suspects that a subject has become aware of surveillance, LPI may disengage the current team and assess whether a lawful, safe and proportionate continuation remains available.
11.2 Where reasonably safe and appropriate, LPI will give the Authorised Contact a factual update explaining the available options, material risks, readiness of any unexposed relief team and cost consequences.
11.3 If LPI identifies a viable continuation, including a clean relief team or delayed re-acquisition, and the Client instructs LPI to stop, the instruction is a Client Stand-down and clause 13 applies.
11.4 If no lawful, safe or proportionate continuation is reasonably available, LPI may pause or end the Assignment. The final account may include work properly performed and unavoidable commitments already incurred, but not unperformed future capacity beyond sums LPI is lawfully entitled to recover.
11.5 Nothing in this clause removes any remedy available where LPI has failed to exercise reasonable care and skill.
12.1 The Client may cancel or request rescheduling by clear written notice. The effective time is when LPI receives the notice.
12.2 The Quote may include an assignment-specific cancellation schedule based on the actual release deadlines and commitments for that Assignment. Any such schedule must be clear and prominent before acceptance.
12.3 Where no schedule is stated, or where applicable law requires an adjustment, LPI may charge only for:
12.4 LPI will take reasonable steps to reduce its loss and will deduct costs saved, commitments released and income obtained by reasonably redeploying the affected resources. LPI will not recover twice for the same loss.
12.5 Rescheduling is subject to availability. LPI will act reasonably in deciding whether all or part of a cancellation charge can be applied to a replacement date.
13.1 If the Client cancels, pauses or stands down after work begins, the final account may include, to the extent reasonable and lawful:
13.2 The value of a Booked Commitment is a disclosed contractual limit, not permission to overcompensate LPI. LPI will deduct saved costs, released commitments and replacement income and will not recover twice.
13.3 For a Consumer, any cancellation or Stand-down charge will not exceed the amount LPI is fairly entitled to retain or recover under applicable consumer law, taking account of services supplied, actual direct loss, reasonable mitigation and savings.
13.4 A Client-requested pause may remain billable where the Confirmed Team must remain immediately available and cannot reasonably be released or redeployed. LPI will explain that consequence before or as soon as reasonably practicable after the pause request.
13.5 LPI will provide a reasonable itemised explanation of any material cancellation or Stand-down charge on request.
14.1 LPI may refuse, modify, suspend or terminate activity that it reasonably considers unlawful, unsafe, disproportionate, harassing, misleading or otherwise inappropriate.
14.2 LPI may also suspend or terminate for material Client misrepresentation, misuse of information, non-payment, threats to investigators or another objectively reasonable cause.
14.3 If suspension or termination results from the Client's breach, clauses 12 and 13 apply.
14.4 If LPI terminates for a reason within its reasonable control and not caused by the Client, LPI will refund prepaid sums attributable to unperformed work after accounting for value properly supplied and any mandatory rights.
14.5 If an event outside LPI's reasonable control prevents performance, LPI will take reasonable steps to reduce the effect, notify the Client where practicable and reconcile prepaid and committed amounts fairly and lawfully.
15.1 An advance payment reserves capacity and is credited against the final account. It may be applied to services performed and lawful cancellation, Stand-down and non-refundable expense charges.
15.2 An advance payment is not automatically non-refundable in every circumstance. After the Assignment ends, LPI will reconcile the account and refund any surplus over sums lawfully due or invoice any shortfall.
15.3 If the Quote identifies a separate booking deposit and precisely states the limited circumstances in which it is non-refundable, it will be treated in accordance with the Quote and mandatory law.
16.1 A Consumer who concludes a distance or off-premises service contract will normally have fourteen days to cancel, subject to statutory exceptions. LPI will provide the required cancellation information and model cancellation form on a durable medium.
16.2 LPI will not begin during that cancellation period unless the Consumer makes an express request. Where required for an off-premises contract, that request must be made on a durable medium. LPI will retain the record for all early-start requests.
16.3 If a Consumer requests an early start and cancels before full performance, the Consumer may have to pay a proportionate amount for services properly supplied up to cancellation, calculated in accordance with applicable law.
16.4 A Consumer loses the statutory cancellation right only when the service has been fully performed after the Consumer expressly requested early performance and acknowledged that the right would be lost on full performance.
16.5 An urgent or same-day request does not by itself replace the required express request and acknowledgement.
17.1 LPI will perform the service with reasonable care and skill.
17.2 Nothing in these terms excludes or restricts a right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including mandatory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
18.1 Payment dates are stated in the Quote and invoice. Urgent or resource-intensive Assignments may require cleared advance payment before resources are committed or mobilised.
18.2 The Client should raise an invoice query promptly and give enough information for LPI to review it. Failure to complain within an arbitrary period does not by itself make an otherwise disputed invoice conclusively accepted. Any undisputed amount remains payable when due.
18.3 LPI may suspend future work for overdue undisputed amounts after reasonable notice, subject to legality, safety and evidence-preservation obligations.
For qualifying Business Client debts, LPI may claim statutory interest, fixed compensation and recoverable costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. That statutory commercial regime does not apply to Consumers. Any Consumer late-payment cost must be fair, proportionate, transparent and lawful.
20.1 LPI may create notes, photographs, video, research results and reports. Reports will distinguish observations, Client-supplied information, third-party material, allegations and assessments where appropriate.
20.2 Public and third-party information may be incomplete or inaccurate. LPI will explain material limitations where appropriate.
20.3 Court attendance, witness statements, enhanced evidential preparation and expert work are not included unless agreed in writing and may attract additional fees and expenses.
21.1 LPI treats instructions confidentially and processes personal information in accordance with applicable UK data-protection law and LPI's Privacy Policy.
21.2 Information may be shared with selected investigators and service providers where necessary and lawful, or disclosed where required or permitted by law. Absolute confidentiality cannot be promised where disclosure is legally required.
LPI may use appropriately selected employees, subcontract investigators, researchers, vehicle providers, technical specialists and other service providers. Operational handovers may be made between teams. LPI remains responsible for performing its contractual obligations, subject to these terms.
The Client must use supplied information, reports, photographs and evidence only for the legitimate purpose agreed with LPI and in accordance with law. They must not be altered to misrepresent findings or used for harassment, intimidation, unlawful discrimination, criminal activity or another unlawful purpose.
Unless otherwise agreed, LPI retains intellectual-property rights in its report formats, methodologies, templates and proprietary materials. The Client may use supplied reports and evidence for the legitimate purpose for which the Assignment was commissioned.
25.1 Nothing excludes or restricts liability where exclusion would be unlawful, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or mandatory Consumer rights.
25.2 Subject to clause 25.1, LPI is not responsible for loss resulting solely from circumstances outside its reasonable control, a subject's independent actions, or materially inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by the Client or an independent source, provided LPI exercised reasonable care and skill.
25.3 Any separate liability cap for Business Clients must be stated clearly, be reasonable, be consistent with LPI's insurance and be approved by LPI's solicitor and insurer before use.
Complaints should be sent to info@londonprivateinvestigators.com with the Assignment reference and relevant facts. LPI will investigate fairly, preserve relevant records and provide a substantive response within a reasonable time.
27.1 The terms applying to an Assignment are the version supplied when that Assignment was accepted. A later website update does not retrospectively change an existing contract unless the parties expressly agree a lawful written variation.
27.2 Contractual notices must be sent to the email address stated in the Quote or another address notified in writing. Operational messages may use the agreed secure channel, but a cancellation, Stand-down or material variation should be confirmed in a durable written record.
27.3 If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue so far as legally possible. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver.
27.4 A person who is not a party has no right to enforce the contract under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 unless expressly stated.
These terms and the contract are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory right of a Consumer to bring proceedings in another part of the United Kingdom or another competent forum.
Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel a qualifying distance or off-premises consumer contract. You may instead make any other clear written statement of cancellation.
To: London Private Investigators Ltd, info@londonprivateinvestigators.com
I/We give notice that I/We cancel the contract for the following services: ________________
Ordered on: ________________
Consumer name: ________________
Consumer address: ________________
Consumer signature, only if sent on paper: ________________
Date: ________________
You will not be judged, pressured or rushed. Speak with an investigator, explain your concern, and we will tell you honestly whether an investigation would help.
All enquiries are handled privately and respectfully. You can contact us even if you are only seeking advice.