Since 18 November 2025, identity verification at Companies House is mandatory: every new director and person with significant control (PSC) must verify who they are when they incorporate a company or are appointed to one. If you are already a director or PSC, you have until 18 November 2026 to verify — a 12-month transition window that closes in autumn 2026. You verify free through GOV.UK One Login, using photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (an accountant or agent registered with Companies House, who may charge a fee). Either route gives you a Companies House personal code, a unique reference you quote whenever you file or are appointed. Verification is a legal requirement, not an optional step: acting as a director without verifying is a criminal offence, and a company cannot file its confirmation statement while a director remains unverified. Here is exactly what you do, and by when.
Dates and rules are sourced to gov.uk and current for 2026. This is general guidance on the Companies House process, not personal legal advice.
Who has to verify their identity?
Identity verification applies to the people behind a company, not the company itself. Anyone who is a director, a person with significant control (PSC), or who files information at Companies House on a company's behalf is in scope. The trigger is timing: since 18 November 2025 the check is mandatory at the point of incorporation or appointment, and the register can no longer be updated with an unverified individual stepping into these roles.
Who
When they must verify
New directors (appointed on/after 18 Nov 2025)
At appointment or incorporation
New PSCs (registered on/after 18 Nov 2025)
When they are registered
Existing directors and PSCs
By 18 November 2026
Anyone filing at Companies House / ACSPs
Before filing on a company's behalf
A PSC is broadly anyone who owns or controls more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises significant influence over it — so in a typical small limited company the founder-director is usually both a director and a PSC, and verifies once as an individual. One related change sits behind all of this: from 18 November 2025 companies no longer keep their own registers of directors, PSCs and secretaries. Companies House holds that information centrally now, which is exactly why verifying the identity of the people on the public register has moved from good practice to law.
How do you verify — and is there a fee?
There are two routes, and one of them is free. Most individual directors verify themselves directly through GOV.UK One Login; alternatively, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — a registered accountant, formation agent or legal professional — can verify you as part of forming or running your company. Both routes end at the same place: a single Companies House personal code that belongs to you as an individual.
To verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login:
Create or sign in to a GOV.UK One Login account.
Prove your identity using photo ID — typically a passport, UK photo driving licence or biometric residence permit — usually through the app or by answering identity questions.
Receive your Companies House personal code, a unique identifier tied to you as an individual.
Give that personal code to Companies House when you incorporate a company, are appointed a director, or make a filing.
The GOV.UK One Login route carries no fee. Going through an ACSP may cost you — they are allowed to charge for the service — but it bundles verification with the work of forming or administering the company, which is why many people going limited let their accountant or agent handle it. Either way, you end up with the same thing: one personal code that you keep and reuse. You do not verify separately for every company or appointment, and once verified you quote the code rather than repeating the whole process.
If you would rather see the full going-limited sequence — verification, incorporation and your first filings — laid out in one place before you start, our free guide walks through it step by step.
Skipping verification has real consequences, and they escalate. Once the deadlines apply to you, acting as a director without having verified your identity is a criminal offence, so this is not a date to let drift. Companies House has published a graduated approach to non-compliance rather than an instant penalty, but the tools available to it carry real weight.
In practice, Companies House can annotate the public register to record that an individual is unverified, impose civil financial penalties, and — the one that bites soonest for a working company — block filings: a company cannot file its confirmation statement while it has an unverified director. Miss the confirmation statement and the company falls out of good standing, which ultimately exposes it to being struck off the register. The government's published approach to non-compliance describes financial penalties and/or prosecution as the enforcement route; it does not set a single fixed fine, so treat any specific figure quoted elsewhere with caution and check the current position on gov.uk.
The honest read is that the penalties matter, but the blocked confirmation statement is what stops most directors in their tracks first — an unverified director quietly jams the company's routine annual filing. If a deadline is looming, or you are not sure which of your directors and PSCs still need to verify, it is worth getting matched to an accountant or ACSP who can verify you and keep the company's filings on track.
If you are incorporating a company today, verification is already part of the process — you cannot be appointed as the first director of a new company without it. That is the practical shift for anyone going limited in 2026: the identity check now sits right at the front of setting up, before you can start trading, rather than being something you tidy up later.
The question we now field first from anyone going limited is the ID check — it is quick, but new directors are unsure which route to take, and getting it wrong stalls the whole incorporation. This is where the connector model earns its keep: we are not the accountant who verifies you, but we match you with a partner accountant or ACSP who can handle verification and set the company up correctly, so the personal code, the appointment and the first filings all line up in the right order.
Whether you verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login or let a partner do it, the sequence is the same — verify, incorporate, then keep on top of the filings that follow. If you are weighing up the wider decision, our guide to setting up a limited company shows where verification fits, and our accountancy hub explains how we match you with a partner to handle the ongoing compliance. Directors still deciding whether they need professional help at all can start with when a limited company needs an accountant.
Identity verification looks like a hurdle and turns out to be a gate — a one-off check and a code you keep, but the first thing every director now passes through. The directors who get it done early are simply the ones who incorporate without a stall. Get the whole going-limited path — verification, formation and your first year of filings — in one place before you take the first step.
Is Companies House asking directors to verify their identity?
Yes. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is mandatory for new directors and PSCs at incorporation or appointment, and existing directors and PSCs must verify by 18 November 2026. It is a legal requirement under new company-law rules, not an optional request you can decline.
Do I have to verify my identity with Companies House?
If you are a director, a person with significant control (PSC), or you file at Companies House on a company's behalf, yes. New appointments have needed verification since 18 November 2025; anyone already in one of these roles has until 18 November 2026. There is no opting out while you hold the role.
How do you prove your identity for Companies House?
You verify free through GOV.UK One Login using photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or you use an Authorised Corporate Service Provider — a registered accountant or agent — who may charge. Either way you receive a Companies House personal code, which you quote when you incorporate a company, are appointed, or file.
What happens if a director does not verify their ID?
Acting as a director without verifying is a criminal offence, and Companies House can impose financial penalties and/or pursue prosecution, annotate the register to show the person is unverified, and block the company's confirmation statement — which ultimately risks the company being struck off. The current enforcement position is set out on gov.uk.
How long does identity verification take?
GOV.UK One Login is designed to be completed online, usually in a single session, provided you have valid photo ID to hand; exact timings depend on the method you use and your documents. Because it is now the first step in appointing a director, doing it early avoids holding up an incorporation.
Since 18 November 2025, identity verification at Companies House is mandatory: every new director and person with significant control (PSC) must verify who they are when they incorporate a company or are appointed to one. If you are already a director or PSC, you have until 18 November 2026 to verify — a 12-month transition window that closes in autumn 2026. You verify free through GOV.UK One Login, using photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (an accountant or agent registered with Companies House, who may charge a fee). Either route gives you a Companies House personal code, a unique reference you quote whenever you file or are appointed. Verification is a legal requirement, not an optional step: acting as a director without verifying is a criminal offence, and a company cannot file its confirmation statement while a director remains unverified. Here is exactly what you do, and by when.
Dates and rules are sourced to gov.uk and current for 2026. This is general guidance on the Companies House process, not personal legal advice.
Who has to verify their identity?
Identity verification applies to the people behind a company, not the company itself. Anyone who is a director, a person with significant control (PSC), or who files information at Companies House on a company's behalf is in scope. The trigger is timing: since 18 November 2025 the check is mandatory at the point of incorporation or appointment, and the register can no longer be updated with an unverified individual stepping into these roles.
Who
When they must verify
New directors (appointed on/after 18 Nov 2025)
At appointment or incorporation
New PSCs (registered on/after 18 Nov 2025)
When they are registered
Existing directors and PSCs
By 18 November 2026
Anyone filing at Companies House / ACSPs
Before filing on a company's behalf
A PSC is broadly anyone who owns or controls more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises significant influence over it — so in a typical small limited company the founder-director is usually both a director and a PSC, and verifies once as an individual. One related change sits behind all of this: from 18 November 2025 companies no longer keep their own registers of directors, PSCs and secretaries. Companies House holds that information centrally now, which is exactly why verifying the identity of the people on the public register has moved from good practice to law.
How do you verify — and is there a fee?
There are two routes, and one of them is free. Most individual directors verify themselves directly through GOV.UK One Login; alternatively, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — a registered accountant, formation agent or legal professional — can verify you as part of forming or running your company. Both routes end at the same place: a single Companies House personal code that belongs to you as an individual.
To verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login:
Create or sign in to a GOV.UK One Login account.
Prove your identity using photo ID — typically a passport, UK photo driving licence or biometric residence permit — usually through the app or by answering identity questions.
Receive your Companies House personal code, a unique identifier tied to you as an individual.
Give that personal code to Companies House when you incorporate a company, are appointed a director, or make a filing.
The GOV.UK One Login route carries no fee. Going through an ACSP may cost you — they are allowed to charge for the service — but it bundles verification with the work of forming or administering the company, which is why many people going limited let their accountant or agent handle it. Either way, you end up with the same thing: one personal code that you keep and reuse. You do not verify separately for every company or appointment, and once verified you quote the code rather than repeating the whole process.
If you would rather see the full going-limited sequence — verification, incorporation and your first filings — laid out in one place before you start, our free guide walks through it step by step.
Skipping verification has real consequences, and they escalate. Once the deadlines apply to you, acting as a director without having verified your identity is a criminal offence, so this is not a date to let drift. Companies House has published a graduated approach to non-compliance rather than an instant penalty, but the tools available to it carry real weight.
In practice, Companies House can annotate the public register to record that an individual is unverified, impose civil financial penalties, and — the one that bites soonest for a working company — block filings: a company cannot file its confirmation statement while it has an unverified director. Miss the confirmation statement and the company falls out of good standing, which ultimately exposes it to being struck off the register. The government's published approach to non-compliance describes financial penalties and/or prosecution as the enforcement route; it does not set a single fixed fine, so treat any specific figure quoted elsewhere with caution and check the current position on gov.uk.
The honest read is that the penalties matter, but the blocked confirmation statement is what stops most directors in their tracks first — an unverified director quietly jams the company's routine annual filing. If a deadline is looming, or you are not sure which of your directors and PSCs still need to verify, it is worth getting matched to an accountant or ACSP who can verify you and keep the company's filings on track.
If you are incorporating a company today, verification is already part of the process — you cannot be appointed as the first director of a new company without it. That is the practical shift for anyone going limited in 2026: the identity check now sits right at the front of setting up, before you can start trading, rather than being something you tidy up later.
The question we now field first from anyone going limited is the ID check — it is quick, but new directors are unsure which route to take, and getting it wrong stalls the whole incorporation. This is where the connector model earns its keep: we are not the accountant who verifies you, but we match you with a partner accountant or ACSP who can handle verification and set the company up correctly, so the personal code, the appointment and the first filings all line up in the right order.
Whether you verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login or let a partner do it, the sequence is the same — verify, incorporate, then keep on top of the filings that follow. If you are weighing up the wider decision, our guide to setting up a limited company shows where verification fits, and our accountancy hub explains how we match you with a partner to handle the ongoing compliance. Directors still deciding whether they need professional help at all can start with when a limited company needs an accountant.
Identity verification looks like a hurdle and turns out to be a gate — a one-off check and a code you keep, but the first thing every director now passes through. The directors who get it done early are simply the ones who incorporate without a stall. Get the whole going-limited path — verification, formation and your first year of filings — in one place before you take the first step.
Is Companies House asking directors to verify their identity?
Yes. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is mandatory for new directors and PSCs at incorporation or appointment, and existing directors and PSCs must verify by 18 November 2026. It is a legal requirement under new company-law rules, not an optional request you can decline.
Do I have to verify my identity with Companies House?
If you are a director, a person with significant control (PSC), or you file at Companies House on a company's behalf, yes. New appointments have needed verification since 18 November 2025; anyone already in one of these roles has until 18 November 2026. There is no opting out while you hold the role.
How do you prove your identity for Companies House?
You verify free through GOV.UK One Login using photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or you use an Authorised Corporate Service Provider — a registered accountant or agent — who may charge. Either way you receive a Companies House personal code, which you quote when you incorporate a company, are appointed, or file.
What happens if a director does not verify their ID?
Acting as a director without verifying is a criminal offence, and Companies House can impose financial penalties and/or pursue prosecution, annotate the register to show the person is unverified, and block the company's confirmation statement — which ultimately risks the company being struck off. The current enforcement position is set out on gov.uk.
How long does identity verification take?
GOV.UK One Login is designed to be completed online, usually in a single session, provided you have valid photo ID to hand; exact timings depend on the method you use and your documents. Because it is now the first step in appointing a director, doing it early avoids holding up an incorporation.
