HireRight Customer Care: An Expert, Practical Guide (2025)

HireRight provides background screening services to employers and support to job candidates navigating checks. Because background reports affect time-to-hire and compliance, knowing how to contact the right team, what information to prepare, and what timelines to expect can save days. This guide summarizes proven ways to work with HireRight customer care as a candidate or as an employer, with concrete steps, legal timeframes, cost ranges, and escalation tactics.

The fastest way to reach the right team

Start with HireRight’s official contact page to reach regional support or open a case with the correct queue: https://www.hireright.com/contact-us. From there, you can select Candidate Support or Client (employer) Support and your geography. Using the site ensures you get the latest phone numbers, hours, and secure forms, which can change by region. Avoid third-party directories; always confirm contact details on hireright.com before sharing personal information.

Have your reference details ready before you contact support. For candidates, that typically includes the case or screening ID from your invitation email, your legal name as submitted, date of birth, and the last four digits of your SSN (United States) or national ID where applicable. For employers, prepare your company name, client ID, and the job requisition or candidate case ID. Never email full SSNs or full payment card numbers; use the portal’s secure upload if documents are requested.

• Use the portal first: follow the link in your invitation email or navigate from hireright.com to the Candidate or Client portal to view live status, upload documents, and message support securely.
• Open one ticket per issue: include your case ID, a one-line subject (for example, “Employment verification: ABC Corp 2019–2022”), and a bulleted summary of what you need.
• Attach evidence up front: W-2s, pay stubs, offer letters, degree certificates, unofficial transcripts, or licenses—clear scans, all pages, under 10 MB per file.
• Set a callback window: provide two time windows with your time zone (for example, 10:00–12:00 and 14:00–16:00 local) to reduce back-and-forth.
• Check regional hours: support hours differ by country; the contact-us page lists current hours for North America, EMEA, and APAC teams.

Candidate support: from invitation to final report

Accessing your case and preventing delays

When your employer initiates a screen, you receive an email with a unique link to the Candidate portal. Complete every required field in one sitting if you can; partial submissions are the most common cause of delays. Enter your name exactly as it appears on government ID, list all names used in the last seven years, and provide full addresses with postal codes. For employment verification, provide HR or payroll contact details rather than a manager’s personal email. If you have documentation (W-2s, T4s, P60s, or regional equivalents), upload them immediately.

Expect identity verification and electronic consent first, followed by component-by-component progress. Typical industry ranges (not guarantees) are: county criminal searches 1–3 business days in the U.S. when courts are online, up to 5–10 days where manual courthouse pulls are required; employment and education verifications 1–5 business days domestically and 5–10 business days internationally; motor vehicle records same day to 1 business day; drug testing 1–3 business days after collection; professional licenses 1–3 business days. Court holidays, university registrars, and third-party verification services can extend these timeframes.

Status terms and how to read them

In most candidate portals, “In Progress” means a component is active, “Pending” means HireRight awaits information (often from a school, employer, or you), and “Complete” means that component is finished. Many employers receive a consolidated result flag per component such as “Clear” or “Needs Review/Consider.” If you see “Pending Candidate,” it usually means you need to upload a document or clarify information. Use the portal message tool to ask precisely what is missing and attach the requested evidence in a single reply to keep the thread cohesive.

Disputes and reinvestigations: how to fix inaccuracies

If your completed report contains information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete, file a dispute (also called a reinvestigation request) directly through the portal or via the contact form on hireright.com. Under the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumer reporting agencies must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation, generally within 30 days of receiving your dispute (up to 45 days if you provide additional information during the investigation; see 15 U.S.C. § 1681i). Many employers pause adverse decisions while a dispute is in progress; ask your recruiter to confirm their policy.

Submit a concise statement describing the error, specify the exact item (for example, “County criminal search, Cook County, IL, case number XXXX”), and attach supporting documents. For education and employment items, documents that originate from the institution (registrar, payroll, tax authority) carry the most weight. Keep all communications within the portal where possible to preserve a single, auditable thread.

• Identity items: scan of government ID showing correct legal name and date of birth; proof of prior names if applicable.
• Employment: W-2s, pay stubs showing employer name and dates, tax transcripts, official employment verification letters on letterhead, or screenshots from an employer verification system if permitted.
• Education: degree certificate, official transcript, or an electronic verification receipt if your school uses a third-party (for example, National Student Clearinghouse in the U.S.).
• Criminal records: certified court disposition or docket showing dismissal, expungement, or the correct identifiers; if sealed or expunged, include the order.
• Licenses: board verification printouts or renewal confirmations with license number, status, and expiration date.

Employer client care: SLAs, pricing, and billing essentials

Engage your HireRight account team through hireright.com to discuss service-level agreements (SLAs) and billing configuration. Common SLAs include first response to support tickets within 1 business day, defined escalation tiers, and target turnaround for standard packages. Align your internal deadlines with realistic component times, particularly for international verifications and county-level criminal searches that require manual records pulls.

Pricing is typically per component with pass-through fees for courts, registrars, or third-party databases. As of 2025 in the U.S., typical industry price ranges (excluding pass-through fees) are: county criminal searches $7–$20 per county, federal criminal searches $10–$20, employment verification $7–$12 per employer, education verification $7–$15 per institution, motor vehicle records $2–$10 plus state fees, drug testing panels $35–$75 per applicant, professional license verification $7–$15 per license. Volume discounts and bundled package pricing are common. Ensure your invoice displays pass-through fees distinctly and that your contract documents how those fees are updated when courts or registrars change their rates.

Privacy and security when contacting support

Background screening necessarily involves sensitive personal data. Use only the secure candidate or client portals or the secure upload links provided by HireRight. Do not send full SSNs, full national IDs, or bank details via email. When speaking by phone, customer care may ask for limited identifiers (for example, case ID, last four digits of SSN, and date of birth) solely to authenticate you.

For data subject requests (access, correction, deletion) under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA/CPRA, use the official request channels listed on hireright.com so your identity can be verified and your request routed to the privacy team. Keep in mind that legal retention obligations may require certain records to be retained for a defined period (often 5–7 years in the U.S.) even after deletion requests; customer care can explain what can and cannot be removed.

Escalation and troubleshooting

If a case stalls beyond expected timeframes, ask customer care for a component-level breakdown and the date of the last action. Provide alternative contacts where allowed (for example, a payroll verification service or a registrar’s verification desk) and upload additional documentation to close gaps. For time-sensitive hires, discuss conditional start policies with your employer for components that are already clear.

For employers, set a written escalation ladder in your master services agreement: front-line Customer Support, then Case Management, your Account Manager, Compliance, and finally an executive sponsor for critical issues. Track metrics such as average turnaround time by component, dispute rate, and percentage of cases requiring manual verification. A simple weekly report highlighting cases older than 5, 10, and 15 business days will surface stuck items early and gives the account team a concrete list to prioritize.

Bottom line: use the official hireright.com contact pathways, centralize communications in the portal, submit complete documentation on day one, and rely on clear SLAs and escalation paths. Doing so reduces average time-to-complete by several business days and minimizes avoidable back-and-forth with customer care.