Morbid question I know, but…How do the police know whose door to knock on if something happens to you?

DH wallet made it back to our house with no police involvement - as men who found it opened and saw his provisional driver license (he doesn't drive had it for ID) with home address down the same road they were on.

We moved had break in DH motorbike stolen used in some further crimes and has irate police man screaming at us at 3 am for not updating DH motor bike details on insurance as he'd gone to previous address and woken them there - they had a follow on for any missed post by re-direct - we'd move week earlier but had update everything for go date so it was all done but it was likely the insurance database just hadn't been updated yet.

We had police run up at this house trying to do a welfare check on man we'd never heard off but they wouldn't believe us - searched the house got caught questioning the kids without permission - in end they radio back DH name had been mentioned by distant relatives as they used facebook non connection to come up with it - found our city then got police to find his address from I think council records as work no-one was in due to extreme bad weather - his workplace was on facebook but not home address.

I think they do obvious - check for ID - ID may have home address - if not and they have name - it's on my bank cards for example - they use what databases they have access to and check there.

When my late OH died the hospital checked his records and found my name. He didn't have a passcode on his phone so they used it to call me and tell me to go in ASAP so they could tell me face to face.

Make sure you have up to date numbers registered with your GP.

@RapunzelHadExtensions I find it really bizarre that you say that neither you nor any of the other police officers you know are aware of the emergency info option on a phone, accessible without having to unlock the phone. This is really basic surely??

Well. When my half sister was murdered in a fairly high profile case overseas the Sun journalist had managed to make it to my front door within a few hours. So I’m guessing emergency services wouldn’t have a problem.

Literally the point of the ICE contact is you don’t have to go thorough the phone and you don’t need the PIN. On an IPHONE you just hold down the button or buttons depending the age of the model, and then select ‘medical ID’

With my stepdad they found my brothers address in a notebook he had in his possession. They went to my brothers house and then blue lighted to mums house with my brother. By this time they probably were worried mum would hear before they got to her.

How do you do that, please?

That's a shame. Could have been addressed perhaps by the deceased having made a will naming one or two of her close friends as executors. That would have given them status to sort out the funeral and so forth. Without a will everything goes to your spouse, even if separated, or your nearest blood relatives if there is no spouse, no matter what your relationship with them was like.

Whilst this database seems like a good idea in theory in practice it would be very difficult to maintain .
Also remember contacts can go on holiday , be in meetings and cannot be contacted , pass away , change their phone no etc .
Who would pay for the admin for this ?
Thankfully these situations are rare .

Some suggestions ( I’m from a family of cops )

Give details to your neighbours as your home address is their first point of call as all your ID , info , insurance etc leads to there .

Remember they are trained to handle these situations. If they turn up and find e.g 2 16 year olds only at the property they will ask them for a trusted family member or friend to come round if possible etc ..

I am single myself now so understand why you feel this way

I guess it shows the importance of carrying a form of identification and making sure NHS next of kin details are up to date.
It also brings awareness to people's support networks and the way they live their lives.. People being aware of their whereabouts etc.

I work in healthcare and it's really eye opening the way some people live, especially elderly people that haven't had children or are estranged.. Some are on the floor for 3-4 days until a neighbour hears them shouting out and can get help. Obviously once this happens, things are then put in place (careline SOS etc) but sometimes people don't realise how isolated they are until an emergency happens.

I’ve wondered this too! Although more the other way round - as in how would I find out if something happened to one of my kids

OP I wouldn’t worry about the police telling your teens - they would be sensitive and they would ensure they had someone else to contact and call round.

highly unlikely anyway!!

I know someone who died suddenly at home and was found by a neighbour. The police traced her family who she hadn’t had contact with in decades, and wouldn’t deal with friends who were her close support system. It was a mess.

They can ask for Council Tax, Council Housing, Social Work, DVLA, HMRC and NHS records but generally only in an emergency situation where standard GDPR legislation can be exempted.

They can't just wander in to your local Health Centre and demand to view records without making a formal request though unless there is an immediate threat to life.

Facial recognition, it took the police about 6 hours from finding my unwell relative, to calling me. Impressive.

ICE on your phone front screen (can be seen without unlocking phone) 👍

My car and dh's car / drivers licence etc all registered at same address. Work lanyard who have my next of kin details. Bank card always in back of phone they would have my name at least, rarely go anywhere without my phone. I'm signed up for organ donation too and am pretty sure you have to list your next of kin for that.

My ex husband died in his home and wasn't found for several weeks. The alarm was raised by neighbours due to smell. My children were contacted via Facebook by the person who had raised the alarm.

This was a very sobering realisation for me when my marriage ended. It dawned on me that "my person" was no longer my person and broke my heart.

I have sometimes wondered how long it would take to realise if I didn't wake up one morning.. Especially when my kids are at their Dads. 😥

A phone doesn't need unlocking for ICE though, not with iPhone anyway.
If it's a pedestrian or someone found having been attacked or collapsed what would the steps be if you don't use their phone?

I have a friend who lives on her own, her only daughter lives an hour away, and I’ve only met her once. The friend was helping out at an event and suffered a (not serious) head injury, no one else at the event knew her. It occurred to me then that if anything was to happen to her that no one in our village would know how to get hold of her daughter. I’ve now got her daughter’s number and she has mine and she has shared these with her immediate neighbours.

When my dad collapsed on the way to work (in his uniform) the police called his employer and found out next of kin from them. They turned up at my mum's door.

Police don’t seem to know about ICE on phones. When I was hit as a pedestrian, in between bouts of unconsciousness I told them my phone was set up. They tried to use my smashed up face for Face ID and then took my phone password from me in my confusion. They phoned from my phone to my NOK.

Poor guy! That reminds me, I have an id bracelet from parkrun https://shop.parkrun.com/products/parkrun-wristband that I wear if running without my phone, you can also have an emergency number and medical details printed on it. Lots of brands do them I think, but it was handy to have one with my parkrun barcode on it.

Check your phone for ICE. Check your wallet for name on cards. If they have your name they can do a search for your address.