How to handle an interview under caution
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So, you’ve been asked to an interview under caution: what now?
What is an interview under caution?
Before the interview
Get advice!
Ideally you should get advice from both an adviser and a solicitor who has experience in helping people with interviews under caution. The adviser can advise you about your benefits and the solicitor about your rights in the fraud investigation. They can tell you how the law will affect your particular circumstances, explain your options, negotiate with the DWP or council on your behalf and may come with you to the interview.
Solicitors usually charge for their services. If you can't afford to pay for a solicitor you may be able to get part or all of your legal costs paid through legal aid. Mention this to the solicitor on your first visit. They will be able to carry out the test to check if you are entitled. There is more information on legal aid in the Criminal Defence Service leaflet ´A Practical Guide to Criminal Defence Services´ which you can get by calling 0845 3000 343.
If you can’t afford, or can’t find, a solicitor you may be able to get help from an advice agency for free. Many towns have advice centres, such as Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Law Centres and local independent centres. Before you go to them, check if they are able to deal with your problem. It may be helpful to take the step-by-step guide with you to work through together. Take your letter asking you to the interview under caution and anything else you think might be useful with you.
You can also get help over the phone. Community Legal Advice is a free and confidential advice service paid for by legal aid. If you live on a low income or benefits they can give you free advice and help you to prepare for your interview over the telephone. You can contact them on 0845 345 4 345.
It may be difficult to get all the advice and help you need. However, if you need time to get an adviser or solicitor, the DWP or council must delay the interview.
See the ´Useful contacts´ section for information on how to find a solicitor or adviser. Advicenow's guide ‘Do I need a lawyer?’ explains the difference between advisers and solicitors and how to use them: www.advicenow.org.uk/gethelp
Whether you get help or not, working through the step-by-step guide should help you prepare for the interview.
Step-by-step guide: preparing for an interview under caution
Some of the steps outlined here may be difficult to manage without an adviser or solicitor, but working through the guide should help you to feel more prepared.
| What to do | Why and how |
| Take a step back and look at your case objectively | Try and put any worries, embarrassment or anger aside to think about the situation and decide what to do next. Talking it through with a friend and working through this guide could help. |
| Find out what it's all about |
It's important to know what the DWP/council thinks you might have done wrong so that you can answer their questions. If the letter asking you to interview doesn't tell you much you could try to get more information from them. Contact them (if the number on your letter is a switchboard you will need to ask for the fraud section) and ask them what they think the problem is and what they think you might have done wrong. They ought to outline what the problem is, but probably won't want to discuss details until they caution you. If they won't tell you anything before the interview it may be reasonable to refuse to go until they do. If they won't give you all the information you ask for they should explain to you why not. You can request a copy of your file using the Data Protection Act, although there are rules about how to do this and what information they can refuse to give you. An advice centre will have more experience of knowing how to help you get the information you need. Be careful: If you do contact the DWP or council be aware that anything you say to them (whether it's in a cautioned interview or not) could affect the way they view your case. Make sure that what you say is clear and accurate - contacting them through an adviser can help to make sure they don't misinterpret what you say. Never agree to anything or say something you don't think is true just to try and sort it out, or to try and get them to cancel the interview. |
| See if you can resolve it without the need for an interview | Once you know what the DWP/council's suspicions are you may be able to sort it out without an interview, for example if you think they've made a mistake or you have a simple explanation for what happened. |
| Check your benefits | While they are looking at whether you commited fraud you may need to appeal against a decision to stop or reduce your benefit, or against a decision that says you were paid too much benefit. You may be able to claim other benefits instead. An adviser can look at your income and situation and work out which benefits you should be getting and help you with the appeal. |
| Go through your options | To decide what to do next, you need to know what might happen at the interview, whether anyone can go with you, and decide whether to go to the interview or not. Knowing what all the possible outcomes might be may help you to understand the interview better. |
| Make sure you can attend the interview if you want to |
If there are things which might make it difficult for you to go to the interview, for example, if you have difficulty climbing stairs, let them know and they should try and help you, for instance by having the interview on the ground floor. They should also try and take account of any reasonable request, such as that a woman interviewer is present. If the time of the interview is inconvenient, ask for a different time. |
| Write down what you think happened |
Writing down exactly what you think happened or how you think the problems came about can help you to get it clear in your head. If you have other things that may back up your version of what happened, such as letters from your doctor, or statements from 'witnesses', you should collect them too. If you need time to gather this kind of information (for example if your doctor is away, or you can't get an appointment at the advice centre straight away), ask them to delay the interview. Take all this information with you to the interview. It will help you to answer their questions and remember what you want to tell them. If you know exactly what they think the problem is, you could choose to send them details of what you think happened beforehand, especially if you think it may clear the matter up. However, it is very important to get advice before doing this as you need to be sure that what you say will help and won't make things worse. |
Do I have to go to the interview?
You don’t have to go to the interview. But you should think about whether you would be better off going, or trying to sort it out another way. Deciding whether to go or not can be difficult. Every situation is different and there are different views on what is the best thing to do.
Some advisers say that if you can't get an expert in benefit fraud to go with you, it is better not to go rather than go on your own and say things that might incriminate you. If you don't go to the interview, it could mean that the fraud section won't have enough information to decide if you committed fraud which could mean that they have to drop the case against you. On the other hand, the fraud section may feel they have enough information to take you to court anyway and you will have lost an opportunity to find out what they think happened and to explain your side of the story.
Whether you go or not may depend on things like whether you can get an adviser or solicitor to go with you, how strong the case against you is, and if you feel you could deal with the interview confidently on your own.
Get advice beforehand about whether or not you should go and how this could affect your case. And if you decide not to go you should write to tell them giving your reasons, for example, explaining if it's because you can't get someone to represent you.
If I go to an interview under caution, should I go alone?
If you go to an interview it is best to take a solicitor to represent you. Unfortunately, it might be difficult to find or afford a solicitor with experience in interviews under caution (See 'Get advice!'). You can, however, consider taking someone else, such as an adviser or a friend.
Many advice centres (for example, CABs and Law Centres) specialise in helping with benefit problems, and some may have advisers who have experience in interview under cautions. They may agree to go with you.
Some people want to take a friend to the interview for support. If you do, be careful: if the interviewer thinks they are there as a witness or your representative they may try questioning them, or they may refuse to let them stay. If the interviewer thinks that they are influencing what you say, they may think that you are unsure of the facts.
Many advisers would say that if you can't find either an expert in interview under cautions or benefit problems, you should go alone rather than take someone who is not an expert.
Whether you go alone or not, being thoroughly prepared, perhaps having jotted down or practised what you will say, will help you manage the interview better.
Replying to their invitation to an interview under caution
When you are asked to an interview under caution you should always reply. If you decide not to go to the interview, or want to postpone it, you should explain this. If there are things you need, so as to be able to go to the interview, such as changing when or where it is or asking for an interpreter, let them know as soon as possible. Keep your letter short and simple and make sure that you don't say anything that could be used against you. Below is an example of a letter that someone might write if they wanted to delay an interview until they got more information about the case.
National Insurance number Date
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your letter inviting me to an interview under caution next week.
I will be in a better position to help you with your investigation if you let me know what you're accusing me of. Please explain what the problem is and why you think it was caused by fraud rather than a simple mistake. If you think you have evidence against me please send me copies.
I will need a quick and full response to this letter before I can come to an interview, so please postpone it until after you have given me more details.
Yours faithfully
Vanessa Morgan
It is unlikely that they will send you all of the information that you need. If they don’t, see the step-by-step guide.
If you do manage to get enough details of what they think the problem is, it will make it easier for you to be able to write down what you think happened, or to make a list of things you want to ask or say at the interview.
What will the interview be like?
After the interview under caution
Step-by-step guide: after an interview under caution