How to Request a Welfare Check in England

If you can't reach a loved one in England and you're worried something is wrong, you can ask the police to carry out a welfare check (also called a wellbeing or wellness check). An officer visits the address to confirm the person is safe. Here's exactly how to request one, what to expect, and how to make sure it never comes to this.

How to request a welfare check in England

1. If it's a life-threatening emergency, call 999. If someone may be hurt, unconscious, or in immediate danger, that is an emergency, not a routine welfare check.
2. Otherwise, call the police non-emergency number, 101. It is the single non-emergency line covering all of the UK. Ask for a welfare check and explain why you're worried. Do not use 999 for a non-urgent check.
3. Give the call handler the details: the person's full name, address, age, a description, why you're concerned, when you last had contact, and any medical conditions or risks in the home.
4. Stay reachable. Officers may call you back after they visit.

Welfare checks in England are carried out by the local territorial police force that covers the person's address. Dialling 101 connects you to the right force wherever they live. For ongoing risk to an older or vulnerable adult, the local council's adult social care team handles safeguarding under the Care Act 2014.

In England, policing is provided by the your local territorial police force (one of 43 across England and Wales). For a welfare check you want the team that covers the person's local area, which they can direct you to.

What happens during a welfare check

An officer goes to the address and tries to make contact. If the person answers and is fine, that's the end of it. If nobody answers but there are signs of distress, officers can force entry to help. They may also contact local hospitals or follow up with you afterwards. A welfare check is about safety, not getting anyone in trouble.

When it's about ongoing concern, not a one-off

If your worry is ongoing neglect, self-neglect, or the risk of harm to an older or vulnerable adult rather than a single can't-reach-them moment, adult safeguarding is often the better route. Contact the local council or health service that covers the person's area and ask about an adult safeguarding referral. A welfare check is for the urgent moment; safeguarding is for the longer-term risk.

The problem with waiting until you're worried

By the time you're worried enough to call the police, hours or days may already have passed. A welfare check is a last resort. The better answer is a system that notices a missed day automatically and tells the right people straight away, before anyone has to call England police at all.

Don't forget the pets at home

It's easy to overlook in the moment: if someone lives alone with a pet and can't be reached, that pet may be alone too, with no one who knows it's there or how to care for it. Officers carrying out a welfare check won't know about a cat in a back room or a dog that needs medication unless someone tells them. With AssureOkay, your pet's care details are kept on file, so if a check-in is missed your emergency contacts are told there's a pet at home and exactly how to look after it. You can also build a free pet emergency plan in minutes.

A daily check-in means it never comes to this

AssureOkay sends a gentle daily check-in by app, text, or automated phone call. One tap and your family knows you're okay. Miss it, and your chosen emergency contacts are alerted the same day by push notification, SMS, email, and AI phone call, with your address and any details they need to act fast. No equipment, no contracts, works on any phone.