Companies House Identity Verification

The Requirements and Important Dates

Pursuant to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), from 18 November 2025 it will be mandatory for all directors of companies in the UK and all members of LLPs to verify their identity with Companies House.  This requirement also applies to all Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) of these entities.  Identity verification is being introduced to create greater transparency and accuracy of the records held by Companies House.

After 18 November 2025:

  1. The personal verification codes of all directors proving that they have been verified will need to be provided with a company’s next annual Confirmation Statement. If a person is a director of more than one company, he will need to supply it when filing each company’s Confirmation Statement.
  2. If a director is also a PSC of the same company, their personal code must again be supplied to Companies House separately in relation to such role within 14 days of the company’s Confirmation Statement date.
  3. If someone is only a PSC of a company, they will need to supply their personal verification code to Companies House within 14 days of the start of the month in which their birthday falls, e.g. if your date of birth is 22 January, your 14 day period will begin on 1 January.
  4. In order to be able to incorporate a new company, it will be necessary for all directors and PSCs to provide their personal verification codes when completing the incorporation application, before a company can be created.
  5. Anyone agreeing to be appointed as a new director of an existing company will not be permitted to act in such role unless they are verified, so anyone who is to be appointed as a new director will need to be verified before their appointment is finalised – if a person continues to act as a director without being verified, they will be committing an offence and could be disqualified, and the company and all directors may also be committing an offence.
  6. Anyone who becomes a PSC of a company is required to provide their personal verification code to Companies House within 14 days of being added to the Companies House register as a PSC and if they do not they may be committing an offence.

    The above also apply as relevant to all members and PSCs of LLPs.

From Spring 2026, it will also be compulsory for anyone filing any documents at Companies House to be registered and verified, whether that be, for example, a company secretary or other employee, or a third-party agent.

Identity verification will be introduced by Companies House at a later date for each of the following:

  • General partners of limited partnerships
  • Corporate directors of companies
  • Corporate members of LLPs
  • Officers of corporate PSCs

The transition period for the compulsory verification of individuals is expected to finish at the end of 2026, when Companies House will begin to take action for non-compliance with these verification requirements.

Such action will include fines and the prosecution of directors and the company for non-compliance.  In relation to non-compliance in respect of PSC listings, annotations will be added to the record at Companies to show that the PSC in question has not been verified.  All of this could have a knock-on effect on a company’s ability to do business, particularly when it comes to banking and finance arrangements.

Voluntary Verification

It is now possible for individuals to verify themselves using one of the following routes:

  1. using the GOV.UK ID Check app;
  2. by creating a GOV.UK One Login account and answering security questions online; or
  3. by creating a GOV.UK One Login account and then attending a participating Post Office with the relevant documents.

Once verified, the individual will be provided with a personal verification code which will need to be provided to Companies House as described above.  This code should be kept secure and only given to trusted people to use when to filing on behalf of an individual or their company.

Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

Now and in future a registered Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) can be used to assist with the verification process.  ACSPs will likely be solicitors, accountants and other such professionals and they will be required to carry out identity checks to meet the same level of assurance as those who verify directly with Companies House.

For further up to date information on all of the proposed changes at Companies House, please visit  https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk

The Company Secretarial team at Grunberg will be assisting our clients with this process whether they need assistance to verify voluntarily or through us as a future ACSP.  If you have any questions or concerns about verification, please do get in touch.