About Us

Our Story

In 2000 Paul Slowey was instructed by the London Borough of Camden to carry out a 6-month project with the brief – “Is the Blue Badge scheme being abused?” With a background in law, Paul realised that the scheme was being misused on a national scale. The scheme was created to help those with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport to park close to where they need to go.

Paul found evidence of large-scale forgery operations, with badges being stolen and sold on, and many people using other people’s badges, as well as lost badges and deceased people’s badges being misused.

From this first assignment Paul seized 104 badges in 6-weeks and with only one other authority enforcing the scheme it became clear that misuse was rife. It was at this point that Paul also realised the need for specialist skills to identify a fake badge, investigate each case and prepare the legal documents needed to go to court.

From there BBFI Public Sector Investigations was created to protect the rights of the disabled, to work in partnership with more local authorities and replicate and expand on the work that had been started, ensuring there is universal enforcement of the Blue Badge scheme.

In 2001 Paul came across a similar project within the social housing sector where the lack of social housing was more to do with the management of existing stock than a lack of stock. It became clear that there were enough properties being sublet that could house those on the homelessness list. The team at BBFI strongly believe that this is still the case today.

A small team of investigators started to work in partnership with Housing Associations using their specialist skills to investigate unlawful subletting and ensure that social housing is made available to those that need it.

Today the team work with several local authorities and housing associations across the UK, forming partnerships and using specialist skills to achieve compliance.

Knowing from experience that where the team of investigators work with local authorities and housing associations that compliance can be achieved, BBFI public sector investigations will continue to protect the rights of the disabled and reduce homelessness.

Our Team

BBFI public sector investigations is made up of a team of highly skilled ex-police and those with detailed knowledge of the law. Specialising in Blue Badge misuse our professional team understand how to investigate, collect, and present evidence to resolve disputes by mediation or litigation.

Our specialisations require different skill sets but the best training for any investigator comes from serving in the British Police, where they are trained to a high level and retired at an early age. We carry out an extensive interview process with each person and our selection process is exceedingly difficult so that we ensure that we always identify and hire those with the detailed insight and backgrounds needed to spot and investigate fraud.

We pride ourselves on being transparent and holding ethical values. All our investigators and employees work with a range of policies and processes ensuring safe, professional, and ethical practice. All our policies are available for inspection.