Skip tracing
Skip tracing in New Zealand, from licensed sources, in one search
When the address on file has gone cold, intelID returns the recorded position from every licensed New Zealand source at once — credit file address history, company and property records, security interests, insolvency and digital footprint tracing — with the source and date attached to each result.
What a trace actually involves
Most traces are not difficult; they are slow. The information needed to locate a person in New Zealand is spread across credit reporting data, public registers and publicly visible online records, each with its own login, its own search syntax and its own billing. The time cost is in stitching those together and deciding which of them is telling the truth.
intelID collapses that into one query. You declare the authorised purpose, run the search, and get back what each licensed source holds, labelled with the source and the date it was recorded. Where sources disagree, you can see that they disagree, which is usually more useful than a single confident answer.
The most common failure in tracing is not a failed search but a wrong identity match: a common surname, a transposed date of birth, a married name never recorded. Presenting every source together, with dates, makes corroboration the default rather than an extra step.
How a trace runs
01
Start from the strongest identifier
A name on its own rarely resolves. A date of birth, a last known address, a phone number or a company association narrows the field before any source is queried, and decides which source is worth running first.
02
Run every licensed source at once
Credit file address history, Companies Office records, LINZ title and ownership, PPSR interests, insolvency registers and digital footprint tracing return together, rather than as six separate logins and six separate invoices.
03
Corroborate before you report
Each result shows its source and the date the information was recorded. Two independent sources agreeing on the same address is the standard that keeps a wrong match from becoming a wasted attempt or a privacy complaint.
04
Keep the record
The declared authorised purpose, the user, the timestamp and the sources queried are written to an audit log at the time of the search and cannot be edited afterwards by the person who ran it.
What the search draws on
Every source is licensed and every query is tied to a declared authorised purpose.
Credit reporting data from Equifax and Centrix is frequently the most current address record in the country, and is accessible only under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2020 for a declared authorised purpose. Companies Office records give directorships, shareholdings, registered offices and addresses for service. LINZ title records give ownership and legal descriptions. The PPSR shows registered security interests, and the insolvency registers show bankruptcy, no-asset procedures and company insolvency events.
Digital footprint tracing adds the contact layer registers do not hold: phone numbers, usernames, email addresses and publicly visible social media signals resolved to linked accounts and platform registrations. The full list, with the legal basis attaching to each source, is on the data sources page.
Who runs traces on intelID
Debt recovery and collections
Locate the debtor, test whether recovery is viable and close unrecoverable files early rather than paying for repeated attempts against a stale address.
Service of documents
Confirm a current address before an agent is instructed, and evidence the enquiry if substituted service becomes necessary.
Litigation and pre-action enquiry
Establish an address for service, confirm identity and test the asset position before a proceeding is filed.
Investigation practice
Tracing, background enquiry and asset work under one verified account, with the audit record a client file review expects.
The limits we work within
A trace is lawful because of the purpose behind it. Recovering a debt, serving documents, progressing a proceeding, investigating a claim or completing a due diligence check are declarable purposes. Curiosity, a personal matter, marketing, resale and locating a person who has taken steps to avoid being found for their own safety are not, and requests of that kind are declined.
Reports are for the purpose declared when the search was run and may be disclosed to your client, or to a court, tribunal or regulator, in connection with that matter. Subject data is not used for marketing, is not resold and is not exposed to public indexing. The compliance position is set out on the compliance page and the practical detail in our guide to what the law allows in skip tracing.
Pricing is a monthly subscription plus a fee for each search you run, published on the pricing page, so occasional tracing does not carry a large fixed cost.
Skip tracing questions
What is skip tracing?
Skip tracing is the work of locating a person, or confirming where they now live, when the contact details on file are no longer current. In New Zealand it is used for debt recovery, service of documents, litigation, insurance claims and estate enquiries.
Is skip tracing legal in New Zealand?
Yes, where the search is run for a lawful, declarable purpose and the information is collected and used in line with the Privacy Act 2020 and the licence terms attaching to each source. The activity is not prohibited; the purpose and the manner of collection are what the law regulates.
Which sources does an intelID trace use?
Licensed credit reporting data from Equifax and Centrix, Companies Office records, LINZ property and title records, the PPSR, insolvency registers, and digital footprint tracing across phone numbers, usernames, email addresses and publicly visible social media signals.
How current is the address returned?
Each result carries the source it came from and the date that source recorded the information, so you can judge currency before acting. No platform can confirm occupancy; what intelID gives you is the recorded position from every licensed source at once.
Do I need a licence to run traces?
If you trace for reward on behalf of another person, the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010 generally requires a licence or certificate of approval. An in-house recoveries team chasing its own employer's debtors is in a different position. Accounts are issued after we verify the person, the organisation and the purpose.
What does a trace cost?
A monthly subscription from $49 + GST for one user, plus a fee for each search you run. There is no minimum spend and no bundle to use up, so intermittent tracing does not carry a large fixed cost.
Can I evidence the enquiry afterwards?
Yes. Every search records the user, the timestamp, the declared authorised purpose and the sources queried, in an audit log the user cannot edit. That record supports an affidavit of reasonable enquiry or a response to a privacy complaint.
Start tracing on intelID
Tell us about your practice and the purpose you will declare, and we will get your account issued.