We’re not debt collectors, says private investigator

We’re not debt collectors, says private investigator

Anton McNulty

A PRIVATE investigator has defended the integrity of his industry, which he says is not involved in debt collection.

At a recent sitting of Castlebar District Court, Judge Mary Devins spoke of her uneasiness about Credit Unions using the services of private investigators to trace people who owe money to the financial institution.

Claremorris Credit Union had applied to the court for substituted services to serve summonses against two debtors and had engaged the services of a private investigator to trace those debtors. Judge Devins described this as ‘unsavoury’, saying she felt that Credit Unions should be protecting the people.

Following Judge Devins’s comments, which appeared in last week’s Mayo News, a private investigator contacted this newspaper to defend his industry. Liam A Brady, who has been working as an investigator since 1976, explained that while it was necessary for financial institutions to use private investigators they were involved in debt collection.

“It is common for banks and credit unions to employ private investigators because the State does not have the resources required to track down people who have absconded and owe money. Like in every profession, there are cowboys, but we have nothing to do with debt collection.

“If a Credit Union rings me up to say someone is gone off with so much money, I have to do a feasibility study and ensure its all legal. Our job is then to [determine] where the absconder has gone to. They have to be found, and and when they are found, I bring that information to the powers that be,” he told The Mayo News.

The number of private investigators in Ireland is ‘tiny’, according to Mr Brady – around 60 or 70. As a representative of the Irish Professional Private Investigators, he said the comments made in court could blacken their reputation and lead the public to mistakenly think they go around asking people to pay their debts.

In the last year, three private investigators were prosecuted by the Data Protection Commissioner for illegally obtaining people’s personal information. Mr Brady said he welcomed new regulation of the industry, which would make private investigators subject to screening.

“We take our job extremely seriously, and we provide an essential service, because people often have nowhere else to go,” Mr Brady said.