Police Want to Interview You Under Caution? Do You Have to Go — and Should You Answer? (England & Wales)

Key points

• A voluntary interview means you are not under arrest and may leave, but refusing to attend can lead to arrest if police consider arrest necessary for the investigation.
• Ask for a solicitor before the interview starts. Police-station legal advice and the duty solicitor are free regardless of means.
• The caution means that you need not answer, but a later reliance on facts you could reasonably have mentioned may permit an adverse inference.
• No adverse inference may be drawn under section 34 where you were not allowed an opportunity to consult a solicitor before questioning.
• With advice, the lawful response may be answers, a prepared statement followed by no comment, or no comment throughout. Never lie.
• A written section 172 driver-identity request normally requires an answer within 28 days; failing to respond can itself mean six penalty points and a fine.
• For speeding and many camera offences, a warning, summons or notice of intended prosecution is usually required within 14 days, subject to statutory exceptions.
• This answer is for police interviews in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.

Do I have to attend a voluntary interview?

A voluntary attendee is not under arrest and may leave. Refusing the invitation is not itself an offence, but police may arrest where they reasonably consider arrest necessary to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence.

Sources: S1, S4

What does the caution mean?

You do not have to say anything. However, in England and Wales a court or jury may draw an inference if you later rely on a fact that you could reasonably have been expected to mention when questioned. Anything you do say may be used in evidence.

Sources: S1, S2

What legal help can I get?

You may ask for free, independent legal advice at the police station and have a solicitor present. The duty solicitor is independent of the police and available around the clock. Under-18s and vulnerable adults may also require an appropriate adult.

Sources: S1, S3, S8, S9

Should I answer the questions?

The correct approach depends on the disclosed evidence and your solicitor's advice. The usual lawful routes are answering with a solicitor present, giving a prepared statement and then saying no comment, or saying no comment throughout. A false account can create further legal and credibility problems.

Sources: S1, S2

What if police ask who was driving?

A written requirement under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 normally requires the keeper or another person with relevant information to identify the driver within 28 days. Naming the driver does not itself require answers to wider questions about the incident.

Sources: S5, S7

What is the fourteen-day notice rule?

For offences within Schedule 1 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, including speeding, the statutory starting point is a warning at the time or service of a summons or notice of intended prosecution on the driver or registered keeper within 14 days. Statutory exceptions can apply.

Sources: S6

Your next steps

1. Do not discuss the case with anyone except a solicitor.
2. If invited to an interview, arrange a time when a solicitor can attend and ask for the duty solicitor if you have no solicitor.
3. At the station, ask for legal advice before questioning and speak to the solicitor in private.
4. Answer any written driver-identity request truthfully within 28 days.
5. Write a dated note of what happened and preserve the original police letters and messages.

Sources and publication

England and Wales only. Official legislation, codes and guidance were checked on 6 September 2026. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules and require separate answers.

• S1. PACE Code C (2023) — the caution, voluntary interviews and free legal advice

  PACE Code C (2023), paragraphs 3.21–3.22, 6.1, 10.5 and 11.1A. Current code checked 6 September 2026.
  Voluntary attendance, the caution, interviews and free independent legal advice.

• S2. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 34 — inferences from silence and the solicitor safeguard

  Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 34 including subsection 2A. Current legislation checked 6 September 2026.
  Inferences from failure to mention facts and the safeguard where there was no opportunity to consult a solicitor.

• S3. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 58 — access to legal advice

  Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 58. Current legislation checked 6 September 2026.
  A detained person's right to consult a solicitor privately and the tightly limited power to delay access.

• S4. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 24 — arrest without warrant and the necessity test

  Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 24(4)–(5). Current legislation checked 6 September 2026.
  Arrest without warrant and the necessity condition for prompt and effective investigation.

• S5. Road Traffic Act 1988, section 172 — the duty to identify the driver

  Road Traffic Act 1988, section 172(2)–(4) and (7). Current legislation checked 6 September 2026.
  The driver-identity duty, written requirements, the 28-day period and the reasonable-diligence defence.

• S6. Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, section 1 — the fourteen-day warning or notice

  Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, sections 1–2. Current legislation checked 6 September 2026.
  The warning, summons or 14-day notice requirement and statutory exceptions.

• S7. GOV.UK — Penalty-point endorsement codes, including MS90

  GOV.UK endorsement codes, MS90. Official guidance checked 6 September 2026.
  Six penalty points and a four-year endorsement record for failing to give driver-identity information.

• S8. GOV.UK — Being arrested: your rights

  GOV.UK, Being arrested: your rights. Official guidance checked 6 September 2026.
  Rights on arrest, appropriate adults and the warning that Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.

• S9. GOV.UK — Free legal advice at the police station

  GOV.UK, Legal advice at the police station. Official guidance checked 6 September 2026.
  Free police-station legal advice, the independent duty solicitor and questioning after a request for advice.

Full transcript

The police have asked you to come in for an interview under caution, maybe about a driving incident. This is England and Wales. The short answer, you do not have to answer their questions, but staying silent can count against you later, so get a solicitor before you say anything.

At the police station, that advice is free, whatever you earn. And if the letter asks who was driving, that one question you must answer. First, what kind of interview is it? If they have invited you in, it is a voluntary interview. You are not under arrest and you are free to leave.

But if you refuse to come, the police can arrest you instead, if they decide that is necessary to investigate. So going with a solicitor beside you is usually the calmer route. Every interview starts with the caution, and it has three parts: you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court, and anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Your rights are the same whether you were arrested or came in voluntarily free independent legal advice from a solicitor at any time, whatever you earn the right to have that solicitor in the room an appropriate adult if you are under eighteen or vulnerable, and the whole interview is recorded.

Ask for a solicitor before the interview starts and use the duty solicitor if you have no one. They are independent of the police and available day and night. Once you have asked, the police must wait. Tell your solicitor everything in private before you decide what to say.

That decision is theirs to guide, not the officers. Now the hard part. In England and Wales, silence is not free. If you say nothing now, and at trial you rely on a fact you could have mentioned, the court can hold that against you. There is a safeguard. No inference can be drawn if you were refused the chance to speak to a solicitor first.

So you have three ways to respond. Route one: Answer the questions with your solicitor beside you. Route two: Hand in a prepared written statement, then say no comment, which puts your account on record without a live grilling. Route three: say no comment throughout.

Each has a cost and a use, and which is right depends on the evidence against you, which your solicitor can ask the police to show. One rule with no exceptions. Never lie. Silence is lawful. A false account can be an offense in itself, and it destroys your credibility the moment the truth comes out.

Now the driving incident. If the police write to you as the registered keeper asking who was driving, that is a legal demand under section one hundred and seventy two of the Road Traffic Act. You must answer within twenty eight days, even if the driver was you.

Refusing or ignoring it is a separate offence, six penalty points and a fine, often worse than the speeding you were being asked about. Two more points on driving cases: For speeding and most camera offences, the police must warn you within fourteen days of the offence, usually by a notice of intended prosecution sent to the registered keeper.

Miss that deadline and they usually cannot prosecute. And naming the driver is all the law compels. Nothing more is compulsory, so you still do not have to answer questions about what happened. Three mistakes we hear about every week. Chatting in the car on the way in because nothing is off the record, ringing the officer to explain yourself before you have had advice, and ignoring the driver identity letter in the hope it goes away.

What to do now: one. Do not discuss the case with anyone but a solicitor. Two. If you are invited in, go at a time when a solicitor can come with you. Three. At the station, ask for a solicitor before anything else. Four, if there is a driver identity request, answer it within twenty eight days.

Five, write down everything you remember, date it, and keep it for your solicitor. At the station, the duty solicitor is free. Before you get there, the Legal Hotline gives free legal information twenty four hours a day and can arrange a one hour consultation with a UK solicitor for one hundred and forty five pounds The number is on your screen now.

Author, publication and corrections

Drafted and source-checked by Claude from the listed official sources. James Stevens, an admitted Australian solicitor, authorised publication on 6 September 2026; personal legal review of this answer is not recorded. The video uses an ElevenLabs synthetic British voice, AI-generated illustrative imagery and AI-generated background music. No real people, courts, events or documents are depicted.

Publication authorised by James Stevens — Admitted solicitor (Australia). Authorised 6 September 2026. Personal legal review of this answer is not recorded. It was drafted and source-checked by Claude against the listed official sources. James Stevens authorised publication only and is admitted in Australia, not England and Wales.

Answer reference: lh-uk-003-ew. Next scheduled source check: 2026-12-05; earlier if law, procedure, service details or a credible error report changes the answer.

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