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 person checks the result, and your card is charged only when we deliver the current registered address. Standard £100 in 3 to 5 working days. Priority £195 in 24 hours.
Croydon CR0 4XA
- Charged only when we find themCard saved at instruction, nothing taken until there is an address.
- More than 150 sourcesCross-referenced by a person, not a single database lookup.
- Standard in 3 to 5 daysExpress in 48 hours. Priority in 24 for court deadlines.
- 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 a working UK investigator who has spent years 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. 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 person who knows what a real trail looks like. 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
- 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
- £100. 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 worksOne price for everyone. Charged only on a find.
No quotes, no deposits, no surprises. Add a mobile number for £25, an email address for £20 or an employer for £35, each charged only where it is on file and found.
Standard
£100
Report in 3 to 5 working days.
- Current registered UK address
- Confidence rating, dated
- Tracking page and email updates
- Charged only if found
Express
£150
Report within 48 hours, usually sooner.
- Everything in Standard
- Worked the day it is accepted
- For deadlines that are close but not tomorrow
- Charged only if found
Priority
£195
Within 24 hours. Same working day when instructed before noon.
- Everything in Express
- Worked immediately by a senior tracer
- Hearings, limitation dates, injunctions
- Charged only if found
Firms and agencies instructing ten or more traces a month: £85 per trace on a monthly invoice. Open a firm account.
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 £85 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 £100 and is delivered within 3 to 5 working days. Express is £150 within 48 hours. Priority is £195 within 24 hours. Firms and agencies instructing ten or more traces a month pay £85 per trace on a monthly invoice. Add a mobile number for £25, an email address for £20 or an employer for £35, each charged only where it is on file and found. 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.
What exactly do I receive?
A dated report with the person’s current registered UK address and our confidence rating: Confirmed, Probable or Possible. Optional extras add a mobile number, an email address or an employer where they are on file.
Is the address where they actually live?
It is the address the person is currently registered at according to the records we check. In the great majority of cases that is where they live. Occasionally someone is registered at a family member’s or partner’s address they do not sleep at, which is why every report carries a confidence rating rather than a promise.
How likely are you to find someone?
Very likely. We cross-reference more than 150 sources, registers and records and a person checks the result, so the overwhelming majority of instructions end with a current registered address. The rare exception is someone who has deliberately left no record anywhere in their own name. When that happens we tell you plainly and you are not charged.
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. With Trace Bureau no money leaves your account until a current registered 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, the right turnaround, and who actually 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 £100 professional trace delivers.
Read the guideReady when you are.
Five minutes to instruct. Nothing charged until we find them.