Find someone's current address. Pay only when we do.
Instruct a trace online in five minutes. We cross-reference more than 150 sources, registers and records, a private investigator verifies the result, and only then is your card charged. No payment when you instruct: we only hold your card until your result is ready. Standard £150 in 3 to 5 working days. Priority £200 in 2 to 3 working days.
Croydon CR0 4XA
- Charged only when we find themCard saved at instruction, nothing taken until there is an address.
- Verified by a private investigatorMore than 150 sources cross-referenced, then every address checked by a working investigator before it is released. Not a database lookup forwarded unchecked.
- Priority in 2 to 3 working daysFor court deadlines. Standard in 3 to 5 working days.
- Investigator-run, lawful basis on every caseFounded by a professional investigator. ICO registered. A UK limited company, details at the foot of every page.
Run by a professional investigator, not a call centre.
Trace Bureau was founded by Kris Koos, a working UK investigator with ten years in the trade who has spent them locating people for solicitors, creditors, landlords and executors. Every instruction is read, worked and signed off by a person who knows what a real trail looks like, through a UK-registered limited company. It is the same service you would get by instructing a private investigator, because a private investigator runs it. The difference is efficiency: you instruct online in five minutes, prices are fixed, and nothing is charged unless we deliver. About Trace Bureau.
Three steps. Nothing charged until the last one.
Give us the person, tell us why, and let a person do the work. The report is unlocked the moment the address is confirmed and the fee goes through.
Tell us who
Full legal name plus a date of birth or a previous address. Two of those three and we can work. Everything else you know makes it faster.
Tell us why
Money owed, court papers, a tenancy, an estate, a lost relative. We record the lawful basis and decline anything that doesn't have one.
We find them
More than 150 sources, registers and records, cross-referenced by a private investigator who knows what a real trail looks like and verifies the address before it is released. You get a dated report with the current registered address and our confidence rating.
"No find, no fee" is usually a refund policy. Here it is the payment model.
Most tracing agents take the money first and refund you if they fail. We never take it until we have a current address. Money does not leave your account until the report is delivered. What that means in practice.
The usual way
- Pay up front, then wait
- Refund if they fail, eventually
- Argue about whether a result "counted"
- An address in an email, no confidence rating, no date
- A database match forwarded unchecked
- Law firms quoted £350 and more for the same answer
The Trace Bureau way
- Card saved at instruction, nothing charged
- Charged only on a Confirmed or Probable result
- Report unlocks the instant the fee goes through
- Current registered address and a confidence rating, dated
- Every address verified by a private investigator before release
- From £150. The same quality, whoever you are
Who uses Trace Bureau
Every instruction needs a lawful reason. These are the ones we see most, and each has its own page.
Trace a debtor
Individuals, sole traders and companies use Trace Bureau to locate a debtor before sending a letter before action, issuing a claim or instructing enforcement agents.
How it worksTrace a former tenant
Landlords and letting agents instruct us when a tenant has left without a forwarding address.
How it worksServe court documents
Solicitors, litigants in person and process servers use Trace Bureau to establish where a party is currently registered before service.
How it worksFind a beneficiary
Executors, administrators and probate solicitors need to find beneficiaries who have moved, lost touch or never been contacted.
How it worksReconnect with someone
For personal reconnections we do things differently.
How it worksClear prices. Charged only on a find.
No quotes, no deposits, no surprises. One list for people instructing for themselves, one for organisations and professionals acting for a client. Every trace delivers the address. A mobile number (£30) or email address (£30) are optional extras you can tick if you want them, each charged only where one is on file and found.
Standard
£150
Report in 3 to 5 working days.
- Current registered UK address
- Confidence rating, dated
- Tracking page and email updates
- Charged only if found
Priority
£200
Report in 2 to 3 working days.
- Everything in Standard
- Worked the day it is accepted
- Court deadlines, hearings, limitation dates
- Charged only if found
24-hour
£250
Report within 24 hours.
- Everything in Priority
- Worked immediately
- Hearings tomorrow, injunctions
- Charged only if found
The same prices apply whoever instructs.
Instructing for an organisation or a client
Solicitors, agents, businesses and anyone acting for someone else. Your matter reference on the report, a signed statement for exhibiting on request, a free re-check within 60 days, business terms, and the same rule: charged only when we deliver.
| Standard and Priority | Same prices | As above: £150 and £200, with the professional extras included. |
|---|---|---|
| Firm account | £120 | Ten or more traces a month on one monthly invoice, with a portal, bulk upload and an API, at Standard speed (3 to 5 working days). Priority at the price above. |
For firms that trace every week
Solicitors, letting agents, recovery and insolvency practices get a portal, bulk upload, an API and one monthly invoice, at £120 a trace from ten a month.
Firm portal
Every fee earner instructs online, sees every case, downloads every report. Matter reference on each case and invoice line.
Open a firm accountBulk upload
Upload a spreadsheet of subjects and every row becomes a case with its own reference, tracking and report.
How bulk upload worksAPI and webhooks
Instruct from your case-management system and get a signed webhook the moment a case is delivered.
Read the API docsStraight answers
The questions people ask before they instruct us. All of them are here.
How much does an address trace cost?
A Standard trace is £150 and is delivered within 3 to 5 working days. Priority is £200 and is delivered within 2 to 3 working days. A 24-hour service at £250 is currently unavailable, so Priority is the fastest on offer. The same prices apply whoever instructs. Organisations and professionals acting for a client pay the same for the same turnarounds, with the matter reference on the report, a signed statement on request and a free re-check within 60 days. Firms instructing ten or more traces a month pay £120 per trace on a monthly invoice. A mobile number, an email address or a property ownership check (who owns the address we find, from HM Land Registry) are optional extras at £30 each, charged only if you ask for them and we deliver them; the trace itself does not need them. You are only ever charged when we find the person.
Does money leave my account when I instruct?
No. Your card is saved by our payment provider and nothing is charged. Money leaves your account only when we deliver a current registered address rated Confirmed or Probable. Most "no find, no fee" services take payment first and refund on failure; we never take it in the first place.
Do I pay anything if you cannot find the person?
No. Your card is saved when you instruct us but nothing is charged until we deliver a current registered address. If we cannot, you pay nothing and there is nothing to refund.
Can I cancel, and does it cost anything?
Yes. Email us or use the message box on your tracking page with your reference. Cancelling before the trace starts is free. Once the trace is under way the searches have been run and paid for, so a cancellation carries the £60 work-started fee rather than the trace fee. The same fee applies on a consent-based reconnection when we find the person and pass on your message but they decline or do not reply. Not found is always free.
Who actually does the trace?
A private investigator. Trace Bureau is run by Kris Koos, a professional investigator with ten years in UK private investigation, and every case is worked and the address verified by a private investigator before the report is released. Nothing is read off a database and forwarded unchecked, which is why every report carries a confidence rating and a date you can rely on.
Is Trace Bureau legitimate?
Yes. Trace Bureau is a trading name of Bureau Nine Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales and on the Information Commissioner's register, run by a private investigator. Nothing is charged when you instruct, and the card is charged only once a current address has been verified. The company number, ICO number and links to both public registers are on our page "Is Trace Bureau legitimate?" at tracebureau.co.uk/is-trace-bureau-legitimate.
More than an address?
Trace Bureau does one thing: it finds a current address. For surveillance, process serving, asset tracing, fraud and workplace investigations, and due diligence, ask Investigation Bureau, our sister service.
Guides
Plain-English guides to finding people lawfully in the UK, written for the people who have to. All guides.
No find, no fee address tracing: what it really means
Most no find, no fee tracing is pay first, refund later. Here nothing leaves your account until a current address is delivered. What to check before you pay.
Read the guideHow to choose a tracing agent in the UK
What to look for in a UK tracing agent: charged only on a find, dated and rated reports, a recorded lawful basis, ICO registration and who does the work.
Read the guideHow to find someone's address in the UK
No public lookup gives a current UK address and free search sites rarely do. What you can lawfully do yourself, what a £150 professional trace delivers.
Read the guideHow to locate an heir or beneficiary abroad: a guide for UK executors
For executors and administrators of a UK estate with a beneficiary or heir believed to be overseas: how to confirm they really left, where to look abroad, section 27 notices, Benjamin orders, insurance, and where a UK trace fits.
Read the guideHow much does missing beneficiary insurance cost?
What missing beneficiary indemnity insurance usually costs in the UK, what moves the premium, whether the estate or the beneficiary pays, how it differs from missing will insurance, and why insurers want a trace first.
Read the guideTracing former clients: residual balances, stored wills and money you need to return
For solicitors, accountants, financial advisers and pension trustees who hold money, wills or documents for clients they can no longer reach: the SRA rules on residual client balances, what reasonable steps to trace look like, and how to trace in bulk.
Read the guideReady when you are.
Five minutes to instruct. Nothing charged until we find them.