It means that the service is a fantastic tool if a person is in need of searching for a long lost relative or even an old friend that they have lost contact with. Instant Checkmate is better than the average Google search as it not only saves customers a vast amount of time, it also materially reduces the chances that a person will find the wrong person or no one at all. What gives Instant Checkmate this strength is the fact that it draws on such a huge amount of data sources to ensure they only ever find the right people for its customers.
Available Reports
The reports offered by Instant Checkmate vary in a couple of ways in terms of the level of detail they all go into. For instance, the standard background report it provides will return data regarding all the information possible to find on a person regarding their date of birth, past addresses, any relatives, any arrest records, what social media profiles they have and any telephone numbers. Any Instant Checkmate customer has access to this type of report through any of the company’s subscription plans.
The premium report is available to buy for a further cost of $19.99. Within these reports, customers will be provided with any information that is found regarding
- Civil Judgments
- Corporate Affiliations
- Watercraft Owned
- UCC Filings
- Professional Licenses
- Hunting/Fishing Permits
- Weapons Permits
- Foreclosures
- Aircraft Owned
- Neighbors
- Business Associates
- Properties Owned
- Voter Registration
- Old Phone Numbers
- Email Addresses
- Tax Liens
In addition to these reports is the email report feature that Instant Checkmate provides customers should they wish. It allows customers to conduct a check on an email address to see any activity that has been attributed to that address in the past. It means that a customer can find out who has used that address in the past, what social media profiles are linked to that account and any other email address history pertaining to that account too.
Finally, the Report Watcher feature is an attractive selling point to Instant Checkmate’s offering as it means that customers are always updated should any information on a past subject change. Instant Checkmate simply emails or text customers with the update so that their customers are always kept abreast of any alterations in a person’s data. Whatever that may be.
Search Capabilities
The search capabilities that a company provides its customers is perhaps the essential factor for a background check company to ensure is the best it can be at all times. Instant Checkmate provides this by allowing customers many ways to search for information upon an intended subject. Plus, that information has to be of use. In that vein, Instant Checkmate can return data on the following items regarding a person:
- Birth records
- Arrest records
- Court records
- Their relatives
- Address information
- Phone numbers
- Felonies
- Mugshots
- Online profiles
- Sexual offenses
- Misdemeanors
- Traffic offenses
To find data on these types of records, the company requires that a first and last name is given. However, the more information that a person has on a subject the better. It means that they will ultimately save time as the company has a far better direction as to where to look for information in the first instance.
Data Sources
Instant Checkmate utilizes its access to a range of public records to compile its robust reports. This means that it searches records that are held at a federal, state or local government level. Yet it also mixes this with a deep investigation into a person’s social media usage so that a thorough picture of a subject can be formed.
More specifically, the company searches this long list of official records
- Sheriff records
- Sex offender databases
- Any census data that exists
- FAA pilot licensing
- DEA licensing
- Voter registration
- Civil judgements
- Local police department records
- State police records
- Superior court records
In terms of the social media websites that it investigates, Instant Checkmate will look at:
- Tumblr
- MySpace
- DateHookup
- Date.com
By searching across publicly held records and social media sites, the company is also able to cross-reference and check any data they find to ensure that it is accurate and correct.
Limitations
As discussed above, Instant Checkmate has many features that sets it apart from its competitors. However, it does have its disadvantages too and sadly they are mainly based around its pricing structures. The overriding problem with Instant Checkmate is not only that it is expensive, but also that its pricing structures just aren’t flexible so they may not suit some customers who would otherwise find the end product very useful.
This is true if a person simply wants an ad hoc, one off report (which the company do not provide) or if they want to sign up to a much longer-term contract than available to make even more savings. While the pricing structure is reviewed in much more detail below, the company currently only provides a subscription on a one-month rolling basis or a three-month rolling basis. Sometimes, an individual will want just the one report on one subject and signing up for a month or three months does not provide good value for money.
Pricing
There are three ways that customers can sign up to Instant Checkmate’s services. Firstly, and perhaps what should always be the first port of call for every potential customer, is the $1 trial that lasts five days. This is a fantastic offer for potential customers who can then see whether Instant Checkmate is the right fit for them.
If customers decide they want to continue their Instant Checkmate use, they then have to sign up to one of two subscription plans that the company offers. The first is for a standard membership that costs $34.78. For this price, customers can have an unlimited number of reports on a person. To bring this cost down a little, customers who are confident they will use the service for a longer period of time, can sign up to a three month period. This is charged at $83.47 or roughly $28 a month.
Canceling a subscription is easy with no hidden fees or contractual obligations. While customers are billed at the start of either each month or each three month period, the company only requires a phone call to cancel the subscription from the next billing period.
Support
One way that Instant Checkmate earns its credentials is through the often overlooked support department. They actually manage to make its phone support team available to its customers 24/7 which is rare amongst background check services. Plus, the company also ensures that it is contactable through social media sites that so many customers would prefer to use over talking to someone on the phone. Their Frequently Asked Questions page is also a great deal better than many of the company’s peers as it is an easily searchable resource that will answer many a question without the need to speak to a company employee.
Conclusion
Instant Checkmate is an exceedingly competent background check company that seems to put its money where its mouth is by offering its services for $1 for a five-day trial. The confidence that this shows the company has in its abilities is reassuring to potential customers who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the growing amount of companies entering the background check company space. Ultimately, the free trial also allows customers to see whether the service that Instant Checkmate offers is right for them before signing up to its subscription plans – which are unarguably more expensive than most others. Another reassuring sign, however, is that Instant Checkmate make their subscription plans easy to cancel, which is often not the case with some less reputable background check companies.
Presumably, it charges more for its services too owing to confidence in its product. There is no denying that the information that it returns in search queries is useful and extensive, as well as easy to read. The company manages to do all this quickly whilst still trawling through a vast manner of public records and social media accounts. What is great about the amount of data sources they use is the fact that their reports can, therefore, be manipulated and used for a whole host of different purposes or aims that a customer has in mind.
The result is that, if a customer can afford the fee, it’s a great service to sign up to.