Fees of Our Cologne Detective Agency

The detectives of the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Cologne are qualified specialists with many years of experience in corporate and private investigations. Most of our personnel have careers with law enforcement, criminal investigation departments, or intelligence agencies and therefore possess exceptional expertise. We put these qualities, combined with maximum motivation, at the service of our clients and are equally committed to offering a fair fee model.

 

Below is an overview of the costs of our basic services. Our detective agency does not charge hidden additional fees. Information on fees for flat-rate investigations (for example, vehicle owner identification, address searches, and similar services) is available upon request, as these flat rates always depend on individually calculated costs.

Detailed Fees

• Base Fee for Assignment                       96,00 €
• Hourly Rate per Investigator                  94,00 €
• Mileage Rate per Kilometer Driven          1,50 €

All fees are gross (including statutory VAT) for private clients and net for VAT-liable clients.

 

Mileage is calculated either from our Cologne base or, for more distant assignments, according to individual arrangements at favorable rates, which we can offer because we have a network of qualified local investigators.

 

The hourly rate is billed in fair 15-minute increments.

Included Services

At Aaden Corporate Detective Agency LLC, there are no additional charges. Our fees therefore include, among other things:

 

• Costs for initial consultation and assignment discussion

• Costs for providing video and photographic material

• Telephone costs (excluding international calls)

• Costs for providing standard investigative equipment (excluding surveillance vans, video surveillance systems, and GPS trackers)

• Postal costs (excluding express and international deliveries)

 

There are no customary surcharges for the following factors:

 

• Flat-rate expenses
• Meal costs
• Night-time assignments
• Weekend assignments
• Holiday assignments (excluding Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day)

Free and Non-Binding Initial Consultation

As the saying goes, asking questions costs nothing – and at the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency LLC, this proverb is put into practice. Our professional detectives are happy to provide free and non-binding advice for any legitimate concern – by phone (+49 221 9859 2399), by email (info@aaden-detektive.de), and/or in person at our office, at your home or business, or at a neutral location.

Reimbursement of Detective Costs

If detective assignments serve to clarify a legally relevant matter that could not be resolved by milder means – which is generally the case when engaging a detective agency – the costs incurred are reimbursable. This means that, for example, an employer harmed by payroll fraud can claim detective costs incurred in obtaining court-admissible proof of the fraud from the responsible employee. The same applies to a mother who hires detectives to prove that the father has failed to fulfill his duty of care in looking after their child.

 

As a rule of thumb: the costs are borne by the party responsible. In legal practice, this principle is generally upheld with few exceptions. Our clients must initially settle the invoices issued by us, but they often recover the sum from the responsible party afterwards.

 

Relevant court rulings that declare detective costs as reimbursable extrajudicial expenses, if necessary under § 91 (1) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) for legal pursuit or defense, include, among others: Case No. 14 NW 671/90 of the Higher Regional Court Koblenz, Case No. 8 WF 96/88 of the Higher Regional Court Stuttgart (child support dispute), Case No. 13 T 97/99 of the Regional Court Cologne (rental dispute), Case No. W 1234/76 of the Higher Regional Court Munich, and many more.

Of special interest for companies:

"If the client of a detective agency is a business owner or freelancer, the invoice from a detective agency is generally tax-deductible as a business expense." (Finance Court Hesse, Case No. 8 K 3370/88, EFG. 89, p. 576)