COIF account for Charities

[Martin Brown]

I'm asking this on behalf of a small charity that I am helping out after
a series of sudden bereavements left it short on the management team.

Way back in 1985 they were persuaded to open a COIF account when the
small organisation became a charity. These accounts appeared at almost
exactly the same time - I don't know if that is a coincidence or not.

https://www.ccla.co.uk/funds/coif-charities-deposit-fund

A chunk of their funds has been sat in there ever since. This shouldn't
be a problem except that in the meantime all of the signatories to the
account are now either deceased or incapacitated (unable to sign a
recognisable signature). I need to open this can of worms.

The interest rate doesn't look too bad but the funds in it are presently
completely inaccessible which is rather annoying and problematic. There
is about £7k locked inside the account. Annual income/expenditure is ~1k
but expenditure is going up steadily whilst income is slowly declining.

Others have tried to gain access and failed. I'm expecting that we will
have to prove the identity of the charity, its current trustees, deaths
of the previous trustees/signatories and possibly many other hoops.

All I know for sure is that the previous treasurer had been trying for a
couple of years and got nowhere with it before they were sadly unable to
continue in post. They were the last of the original signatories but
cannot now sign anything or remember what they have done so all I have
to go on are a few rough notes (they didn't use a computer).

What are the processes that we might be expected to go through?
Has anyone else had to do this and how long did it take?

Recommendations for banks/building societies with high street branches
offering free charity banking and a decent interest rate to hold the
charities funds would be appreciated.

[Tim Jackson]

On Thu, 14 Nov 2024 22:31:15 +0000, Martin Brown wrote...

Post by Martin Brown
I'm asking this on behalf of a small charity that I am helping out after
a series of sudden bereavements left it short on the management team.
Way back in 1985 they were persuaded to open a COIF account when the
small organisation became a charity. These accounts appeared at almost
exactly the same time - I don't know if that is a coincidence or not.
https://www.ccla.co.uk/funds/coif-charities-deposit-fund
A chunk of their funds has been sat in there ever since. This shouldn't
be a problem except that in the meantime all of the signatories to the
account are now either deceased or incapacitated (unable to sign a
recognisable signature). I need to open this can of worms.
The interest rate doesn't look too bad but the funds in it are presently
completely inaccessible which is rather annoying and problematic. There
is about £7k locked inside the account. Annual income/expenditure is ~1k
but expenditure is going up steadily whilst income is slowly declining.
Others have tried to gain access and failed. I'm expecting that we will
have to prove the identity of the charity, its current trustees, deaths
of the previous trustees/signatories and possibly many other hoops.
All I know for sure is that the previous treasurer had been trying for a
couple of years and got nowhere with it before they were sadly unable to
continue in post. They were the last of the original signatories but
cannot now sign anything or remember what they have done so all I have
to go on are a few rough notes (they didn't use a computer).
What are the processes that we might be expected to go through?
Has anyone else had to do this and how long did it take?

I'm the honorary secretary of a small charity, with some money in a COIF
account. Our former treasurer was the sole signatory. He has stood
down, but is still available and happy to sign any necessary forms, so
we are not in quite the same position as you.

Like you, we also have new trustees that they don't know about yet, and
nowadays they need more than one signatory.

COIF accounts are operated by CCLA. I phoned their Client Services to
ask what we should do: 0800 022 3505
See also https://www.ccla.co.uk/contact-0

The helpful lady directed me to their change of mandate form.
https://www.ccla.co.uk/documents/coif-charities-funds-mandate-
form/download?inline

Many other CCLA forms here:
https://www.ccla.co.uk/resources/client-documentation

In addition to the new signatories, the mandate form also asks for
details of all the current trustees, but will accept a printout from the
Charity Commission website (which you may also need to update - in fact
that may be more urgent if it hasn't been done yet).

We've not got round to returning this CCLA form yet, but I get the
impression that the unavailability of the existing signatories wouldn't
be insuperable. Phone their helpline above.

Post by Martin Brown
Recommendations for banks/building societies with high street branches
offering free charity banking and a decent interest rate to hold the
charities funds would be appreciated.

By all means check, but I suspect you will find that the decent
bank/building society rates offered to individuals are not available to
charities.