From East Croydon our Paddington office is closer than it looks on a map: fast trains to Victoria connect with the Circle line, or Thameslink runs you to Farringdon for the Elizabeth line, and either way you can be with us in about 45 minutes.
Croydon has no shortage of operators claiming to serve it, mostly from rented rooms booked by the day. We test in one place we control: our own office at One Kingdom Street, Paddington Central, with every examination conducted by an examiner trained to police standards in interviewing, and with prices from £493 published on the booking page rather than revealed on the phone.
Across our offices, what people bring us is much the same. About four in five bookings are relationship tests on a single issue, booked by one person, and more often than you would expect by the person who wants to prove something rather than the person who suspects. The rest are mostly theft investigations, where money or stock cannot be accounted for, and the occasional family dispute that has long since stopped being about the original sum.
One from another of our offices earlier this year, with the details changed. Two adult siblings had fallen out over money missing from their mother's account while one of them was managing it. That sibling booked the test, came in on a weekday morning and was examined on one issue: whether any of the money had been taken for personal use. Questions agreed word for word beforehand, three charts, no deception indicated. The other sibling had the report by the next afternoon. Nobody apologised, as far as we know, but the accusation was withdrawn.
Bring photo ID and your confirmation email, which tells you what to say at reception. Everything else, including the exact wording of the questions, is worked out with you at the office before anything is recorded, and whoever comes with you waits in reception while it is.
By train via Victoria: fast trains run from East Croydon to Victoria in around 15 minutes, then the Circle or District line takes you to Paddington. Around 40 to 45 minutes door to door.
By train via Farringdon: Thameslink from East Croydon to Farringdon, then the Elizabeth line straight through to Paddington. It takes about the same and avoids the change at Victoria. At Paddington, use the exit next to the Circle and District line exit; the office is a short walk from there.
By car: driving into W2 is possible but slow. The best parking is the APCOA Paddington Station Car Park (paid). Paddington Central is outside the Congestion Charge zone, but the ULEZ covers the whole of Greater London, so check your vehicle. From Croydon the train is the easy way in.
Recommended office: One Kingdom Street, Paddington Central, London W2 6BD, a short walk from Paddington station. Exact directions are sent with your booking confirmation.
Because a controlled venue is part of what makes a result reliable, and control means operating one proper office rather than hiring rooms around the boroughs by the hour. Forty minutes on the train buys you consistent conditions, a quiet examination room and an examiner trained to police standards in interviewing.
Usually within days. Availability is live on the booking page, payment confirms your slot immediately, and preparation notes arrive by email the moment you book. The appointment takes around 90 minutes; allow two hours.
Either. Victoria is the one most people in Croydon know: a fast train to Victoria, then the Circle or District line to Paddington. Thameslink to Farringdon and the Elizabeth line is the other, and avoids the change at Victoria. Allow around 45 minutes for both and add a margin, because arriving flustered is a poor start to a pre-test interview.
Only the person being tested needs to attend, but partners usually come together, and the one not being tested waits in reception; during the test itself only the examinee and the examiner are in the room. If you both want to be tested on the same issue, the couples test at £695 examines you separately on the same day, and you both hear the results before you leave.
Ring or message us before you book, because the preparation is most of the work. We agree the issue, one issue, and who is to be tested. Each person then attends voluntarily, signs their own consent and agrees their own questions with the examiner; nobody is tested because their employer told them to. Several people can be examined on the same day at a reduced rate, and in practice most of what a theft examination does is clear people, which is its own kind of answer.
Searching from Croydon you will find plenty of operators claiming a local presence; almost none test in premises of their own. The nearest permanent polygraph office is ours at Paddington Central, around 40 minutes from East Croydon. For an appointment like this, where the test is actually conducted matters more than where the advert says it is.
By train: Bromley South to Victoria in around 20 minutes, then the Circle line to Paddington
By train: the Elizabeth line runs direct from Romford to Paddington in around 40 minutes
By train: Kingston to Waterloo in around 30 minutes, then the Bakerloo line direct to Paddington
By train: the Elizabeth line runs direct from Ilford to Paddington in around 35 minutes
By train: Enfield Town to Liverpool Street in around 35 minutes
By tube: the Bakerloo line runs direct from Harrow & Wealdstone
By train: the Elizabeth line runs direct from Stratford to Paddington in around 20 minutes
Services, prices, our examiners and live availability.
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