Companies House identity verification: what directors need to do

Identity verification was introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 to make the Companies House register more reliable and to make it harder to use companies for fraud. Companies House describes it as two steps: first you pass an identity check and receive a unique identifier called a Companies House personal code; then an identity verification statement, including that code, is given to Companies House for each role you hold.

The code belongs to you, not to any company. If you are a director of several companies you verify once and use the same code for each appointment. Companies House says that in most cases you only need to verify once, and that you must not verify again unless it tells you to (personal codes guidance).

According to Companies House, you need to verify if you are:

• a director, or the equivalent of a director (members, general partners and managing officers)
• a director of an overseas company registered in the UK
• a person with significant control (PSC)
• an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), also called a Companies House authorised agent

Companies House says it will introduce verification later for people who file on a company’s behalf, limited partnerships, corporate directors, corporate members of LLPs and officers of corporate PSCs.

Since 8 April 2025 people have been able to verify voluntarily. From 18 November 2025 verification became a legal requirement (Companies House announcement). What that means depends on your role:

• New directors must verify to incorporate a company or be appointed to an existing one, and give their personal code as part of the incorporation or appointment filing.
• Existing directors give their personal code in the company’s next confirmation statement. Companies House says 18 November 2025 was not a deadline but the start of a 12-month transition period, and it estimated that 6 to 7 million people would need to verify by mid-November 2026. If you are a director of more than one company, you do this for each company.
• PSCs have a 14-day period to give their code. If you are also a director of the same company, it starts the day after the company’s confirmation statement date. If you are a PSC but not a director, it is the first 14 days of your birth month. If you became a PSC after 18 November 2025, you give it when you are added to the register or within 14 days (when you need to verify).

You can check the due dates for each of your roles on the Companies House register. Companies House will not accept a confirmation statement until every director has verified, so for most existing directors the practical deadline is the company’s next confirmation statement.

Companies House accepts only two routes, and says you must not post or email identity documents to it (gov.uk):

• GOV.UK One Login. The ‘Verify your identity for Companies House’ service is free. Depending on your answers it guides you to verify with an app, by answering security questions online, or by entering your photo ID details and then going to a participating Post Office.
• An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). An accountant, solicitor or other professional registered with Companies House as an authorised agent and supervised by a UK anti-money laundering body can verify you, using documents from an approved list. They may charge a fee. You can ask your existing adviser whether they are registered, or use the published list of ACSPs.

Once verified you receive an 11-character personal code. Keep it as securely as you would your tax reference, and share it only with people you trust to file for you.

Companies House says that failing to meet the requirements on time may be an offence, with prosecution and a fine through the courts or a financial penalty, and that the company itself may also be committing an offence if a director is not verified. The first prosecutions were reported in September 2026. We set out the consequences, including what they mean for a company that is being closed or is heading into insolvency, in identity verification when your company is struggling or closing.

Companies House also warns directors not to lend their identity to anyone else to set up or run a company: criminals can take out loans and other debt in your name, and you will be legally responsible.