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No trace, no fee means the trace fee is only payable if the agent successfully confirms the subject's current address: if the trace comes back negative, the fee is not charged. At Tremark it applies to desktop traces, from £60 for business clients, and to private client traces at £185 plus VAT, where a smaller non refundable fee of £80 plus VAT covers compliance checks and data costs if no address can be confirmed.
The model exists because clients buying a trace are buying an outcome, not effort, and because a competent agency confirms addresses often enough to price on success. It aligns incentives cleanly: the agent is paid for the answer, not the attempt.
You instruct with whatever is known, name, last address, date of birth if held, and the agency runs its compliance checks and then the trace. A positive result, the subject's current address confirmed to reporting standard, triggers the fee. A negative result, the databases and enquiries cannot confirm a current address, means the trace fee is not charged. Confirmed is the operative word: a professional positive is multiple independent sources agreeing on current residency, not the most recent entry in a database, which is the difference between this and the people search websites that charge for stale data regardless.
Two things a reputable agency will tell you upfront. First, deeper investigation levels sit outside the model: detailed traces involving field enquiries, and comprehensive levels drawing on premium data, carry fees payable irrespective of outcome, because the cost of the work is incurred either way; at Tremark that applies from Level 3 upwards. Second, private client instructions carry a modest non refundable element, £80 plus VAT, reflecting the identity verification, legitimate interest assessment and data costs that must happen before any trace, successful or not. Business desktop traces at Levels 1 and 2 are pure no trace, no fee.
Beyond the pricing, the model is a confidence statement: an agency offering it is telling you its success rate makes charging on results viable. Combined with the compliance vetting that lawful tracing requires, it gives instructing clients a clean proposition: a lawful purpose in, a confirmed address out, and nothing owed for a genuine dead end. Tremark's instant quote calculator shows each trace level, timescale and fee basis in under a minute.
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This page provides general information about the law and practice in England and Wales and is not legal advice. Rules change and individual circumstances vary; always take advice from a solicitor on your specific situation. Prices shown are indicative, exclusive of VAT and confirmed in writing before any work begins.