An address for service you can put in a witness statement.
Before service, get the current registered address in a dated, rated report with your matter reference, run by a professional investigator. Priority within 24 hours for hearings and limitation dates. If the address cannot be established, you get a written note of what was checked and nothing to pay.
Where the rules bite
Under CPR 6.9 a claim form served on an individual without a solicitor goes to their usual or last known residence. Where you have reason to believe that address is no longer current, 6.9(3) requires reasonable steps to ascertain the current one, and 6.9(6) lets you fall back to the last known address only where the current one cannot be ascertained. CPR 6.15 lets the court permit service by an alternative method or at an alternative place, with evidence of what was tried. A claim form is valid for service for four months from issue.
A dated trace report is the record of the step. Found: you have the current registered address, the date it was verified and a rating of how strong the evidence is. Not found: you have a written note of what was checked, on the date it was checked, and nothing to pay for it.
What you receive
Written for the person who has to rely on it.
The address
The address at which the party is currently registered according to the records checked, with the date it was verified and our confidence rating: Confirmed, Probable or Possible, each defined on the report.
Your reference
Your matter reference on the case, the report and the invoice line, so the disbursement lands on the right ledger without retyping.
A signed statement
On request, a short signed statement of what was instructed, when, and what was established, for exhibiting to a certificate or statement of service or to an application for alternative service.
Which tier, when
| Before issue | Standard, £150. Trace before the claim form is issued so the four-month clock starts with an address you can serve at. |
|---|---|
| Claim form issued | Express, £225, within 48 hours. Worked the day it is accepted. |
| Hearing, limitation date or injunction | Priority, £295, within 24 hours and the same working day when instructed before noon. |
Prices for firms
Every tier is charged only when a current registered address is delivered. Single instructions on the professional list, or a firm account from ten a month.
| Standard | £150 | Within 3 to 5 working days. £125 on a firm account. |
|---|---|---|
| Express | £225 | Within 48 hours. Worked the day it is accepted. |
| Priority | £295 | Within 24 hours. Same working day when instructed before noon. |
| No find | £0 | Nothing invoiced. You receive a short note of what was checked. |
Run by a professional investigator, built for the file.
Trace Bureau was founded and is run 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, and the report is written for the person who has to rely on it: dated, rated, referenced to your matter, and priced for the work rather than the letterhead. About Trace Bureau.
Related reading
Guides written for practitioners, without method talk.
Other work firms bring us
Enforcement and insolvency
Judgment debtors and insolvency work.
Read moreProbate and estates
Missing beneficiaries and next of kin.
Read moreFamily
Respondents and absent parents.
Read moreThe report
What arrives on the file.
Read moreHow to instruct
Single traces and firm accounts.
Read moreCompliance
Lawful basis, data and records.
Read moreQuestions firms ask
Anything else, email [email protected] and a person replies within one working day.
Is the report enough on its own for an application under CPR 6.15?
The report is evidence of the step you took and what it produced: a dated, rated current registered address, or a note that none could be established. The application, and what else you put in it, is yours. Many firms exhibit the report to the witness statement in support.
Do you serve the documents as well?
No. We find the address. Process servers instruct us and many firms send our report to their server with the papers. If you need a server, tell us and we will point you to one.
What if the defendant has moved abroad?
We tell you what the evidence shows, you are not charged for the UK trace, and we can quote separately for an enquiry overseas.
How quickly can you turn a Priority trace round?
Instructed before noon, delivered the same working day in most cases, and always within 24 hours. Express is within 48 hours. Standard is within 3 to 5 working days.
Can I have a signed statement?
Yes, on request and at no extra charge on the professional list. It states what was instructed, the date, the address established and the confidence rating, in generic terms that do not disclose method, and it is signed by the tracer.
Does this work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Coverage is the whole of the United Kingdom and the report is the same. Procedure for citation and service differs and we do not advise on it.
Open a firm account
Reply within one working day. Accounts open after a short identity and purpose check.