Charity Trustee & CIC Director ID Verification

If your charity is a charitable company, or your organisation is a Community Interest Company (CIC), Companies House identity verification applies to your board. Trustees of a charitable company are directors in law, so every one of them must verify, including unpaid volunteers. For many boards the difficult part is not the rule but the logistics: getting a group of trustees, some of them less comfortable with technology, verified before the next confirmation statement.

This guide explains which charity structures are affected, what trustees need, and how CorpAssist verifies a whole board without app downloads or Post Office visits. For the general rules, see our director identity verification requirements.

Which Charities and CICs Must Verify?

The deciding question is whether your organisation is on the Companies House register. If it files a confirmation statement there, its directors must verify.

Structure	On Companies House register?	Who must verify
Charitable company limited by guarantee	Yes	Every trustee (director), plus any PSC
Community Interest Company (CIC)	Yes	Every director and every PSC
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)	No (Charity Commission only)	Not required by Companies House
Charitable trust or unincorporated association	No	Not required by Companies House

One common trap: a charity that operates as a CIO but also owns a trading subsidiary. The subsidiary is a company, so its directors must verify, even though the charity itself does not.

Charity Trustee Identity Verification: The Timeline

Existing trustees and CIC directors must verify and provide their Personal Code with the company's next confirmation statement, within the transition period ending on 17 November 2026.
New trustees must verify before they are appointed, so build it into your trustee recruitment. See our new director verification guide.
PSCs, where the company has one, verify within the first 14 days of their birth month. See PSC verification explained.

The confirmation statement cannot be filed until every director has verified. One trustee who has not verified can hold up the whole filing, so the board chair or company secretary usually needs to track progress. Our confirmation statement deadline guide explains how the two dates interact.

Why Charity Boards Struggle With the GOV.UK Route

Charity and CIC boards are often mixed groups: retired professionals, community members and people living abroad. The GOV.UK route suits some of them, but it has conditions that regularly catch trustees out:

The app needs a chip-enabled document and a smartphone with an NFC reader.
The security questions route needs a UK bank account and a National Insurance number.
The alternative means an in-person visit to a participating Post Office.
Each trustee has to manage their own GOV.UK One Login account.

When one trustee gets stuck, the whole filing waits. That is where a human-checked ACSP route helps.

Why Charity Boards Choose CorpAssist

Verifying a board is a coordination job. CorpAssist removes the steps where trustees usually get stuck:

No app, no NFC phone and no Post Office visit: a secure online form and a document photo are enough
Works for trustees without a smartphone, UK bank account or National Insurance number
Passports from 190+ countries accepted, including non-biometric passports, plus UK photocard driving licences
A compliance officer checks each application before submission, and we contact the trustee directly if anything needs fixing
Free resubmission if a document needs replacing
One fee per person, from £29.99 + VAT, covering every appointment that person holds
Volume pricing available on request when you are verifying a full board

Start Verification Now See How It Works

How to Verify Your Board in Four Steps

List everyone who must verify. Check the Companies House register for current directors and PSCs, and compare it with your trustee list. Remove anyone who has resigned before you start.
Check names and documents. Each trustee needs a valid passport or UK photocard driving licence. If a name on the register differs from the document, read our name mismatch guide.
Each trustee completes the CorpAssist form (about 10 minutes) and uploads a photo of their document. Our ACSP verification checklist lists what to prepare.
Collect Personal Codes and provide them with the confirmation statement. Keep a record in your governance files.

Verification is personal: each trustee must complete it themselves, and the charity cannot verify on a trustee's behalf. The clerk or secretary can, however, send the link, track who has finished and chase anyone outstanding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do charity trustees need to verify their identity with Companies House?

Only if the charity is a company registered at Companies House, such as a charitable company limited by guarantee. Its trustees are legally directors, so each one must verify, even if they are unpaid volunteers. Trustees of a CIO, an unincorporated association or a charitable trust do not, because those structures are not on the Companies House register.

Do CIC directors need identity verification?

Yes. A Community Interest Company is a company registered at Companies House, so every director and every person with significant control must verify their identity, in the same way as any other limited company.

Our charity has no PSC. Does that change anything?

Many charitable companies limited by guarantee have no individual PSC and file a statement saying so. The directors (trustees) still need to verify. Only the PSC part falls away.

When must existing trustees of a charitable company verify?

Existing directors must verify and provide their Personal Code by the time the company files its next confirmation statement, within the transition period that ends on 17 November 2026. New trustees must verify before they can be appointed.

Can the charity pay for trustee verification?

Many charities choose to cover the cost as a governance expense, since verification is a legal requirement of holding the office. Check your governing document and trustee expenses policy, and record the decision in your minutes.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For questions about your governing document or charity law, speak to your charity adviser. CorpAssist is an independent commercial service and is not Companies House, the Charity Commission or GOV.UK. We facilitate identity verification through a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Sources: GOV.UK identity verification guidance, Office of the Regulator of CICs.

Last verified: September 2026