Do I need to verify my identity with Companies House as a director?

What has actually changed at Companies House?

Companies House now checks the identity of the people who run and control companies. Companies House's guidance on verifying your identity for Companies House describes identity verification as a new legal requirement, intended to deter people who want to use companies for illegal purposes.

The start date is set out in Companies House's announcement of the rollout. It confirms that from 18 November 2025, legal requirements for directors and people with significant control to verify their identities began. Existing directors were given a 12 month transition period, linked to the company's next annual confirmation statement, rather than one date for everyone.

For most directors this is a one time task. The guidance says that in most cases you will only need to verify once, and that you must not verify again unless Companies House tells you to.

Who has to verify?

The guidance lists the roles in scope. You need to verify if you are a director, the equivalent of a director (which includes members, general partners and managing officers), a director of an overseas company registered in the UK, a person with significant control, known as a PSC, or an Authorised Corporate Service Provider.

Some roles come later. Companies House says it will introduce verification at a later date for people who file at Companies House, limited partnerships, corporate directors of companies, corporate members of LLPs and officers of corporate PSCs. If one of your company's directors is itself a company, that corporate director does not verify yet. Any individual director still does.

A person can hold more than one role. An owner manager may be both a director and a PSC of the same company, and that matters for the personal code, as the table below shows.

When does a director need to do it?

That depends on your role and when you took it on. Companies House's page on when you need to verify sets out the timing for each role.

Your situation	When you provide your personal code	How you provide it
Existing director	With the company's next confirmation statement	In the confirmation statement filing
New director	When you are appointed, or when the company is incorporated	In the appointment filing or the incorporation
Director and PSC of the same company	As a director, in the confirmation statement. As a PSC, within a 14 day period starting the day after the confirmation statement date	The confirmation statement, then the separate PSC service
PSC but not a director, registered before 18 November 2025	Within the first 14 days of your birth month	The 'Provide identity verification details for a PSC' service
Became a PSC after 18 November 2025	When first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added	The 'Provide identity verification details for a PSC' service

You do not have to work the dates out from memory. The rollout announcement says directors and PSCs can check the Companies House register to see identity verification due dates for all their roles, and the timing guidance says a PSC can check the dates of their 14 day period on the register too.

How do you verify, and what does it cost?

There are two routes, and the guidance says these are the only options. Companies House also asks people not to post or email identity documents to it.

The first is the 'Verify your identity for Companies House' service, which uses GOV.UK One Login. The guidance says it is free of charge. Depending on your answers to a few questions, you are guided to verify with an app, by answering security questions online, or by entering your photo ID details and then visiting a participating Post Office.

The second is through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, also called a Companies House authorised agent. Companies House gives an accountant or solicitor as examples. The agent must be registered with Companies House and with a UK anti money laundering supervisory body, you give them documents from an approved list, and the guidance says they may charge a fee for their services. If you already have an accountant, it is worth asking whether they are registered.

The guidance also says you must answer the One Login questions about yourself, not your company. Verification belongs to the person, never to the business.

What do you do with the personal code?

Once you have verified, you receive a Companies House personal code. Companies House's guidance on personal codes describes it as an 11 character code, personal to you rather than to any company you work for.

Verifying is only half the job. The code is how your verified identity is connected to the roles you already hold. As a current director, the guidance says you provide it in your company's next confirmation statement filing. As a new director, you provide it in your appointment filing or when you incorporate a company.

If you sit on several boards, you verify once. The personal codes guidance says you then use the same code to confirm you are verified for each of your appointments. The timing guidance adds that you still need to provide it for each company.

Treat the code with care. Companies House's main verification guidance compares it to your Unique Taxpayer Reference for HMRC and says to share it only with people you trust to file on your behalf. The personal codes guidance gives an accountant as an example. If you think it has been shared or compromised, Companies House can issue a new one.

Where do directors get caught out?

One easy mistake is assuming someone else has dealt with it. An accountant may file the confirmation statement, but they cannot verify you without your involvement, and the code is yours. If the filing is due and one director has not verified, it stops there. The guidance says a company will be unable to file its confirmation statement unless all its directors are verified.

A second is the director who is also a PSC. Giving your code on the confirmation statement covers the director role only. The timing guidance says you need to provide the code separately for each role, using the PSC service for the second one.

A third is a mismatch in the records. The personal codes guidance says your details may not match if the code was entered wrongly, or if the date of birth Companies House holds for you is incorrect. It asks you to check that date of birth and correct it before you provide your verification details. Doing that check well before the confirmation statement is due helps avoid a stalled filing.

The last is verifying twice. If you have already verified, perhaps for another company, use the code you have. The guidance says you must not verify again unless Companies House tells you to.

Our post on overdue accounts and confirmation statements explains what follows when a confirmation statement is late, which is one reason to sort verification first.

What happens if a director does not verify?

The guidance is plain about it. If you do not comply with all identity verification requirements on time, you may be committing an offence, and you may face prosecution and a fine through the courts, or a financial penalty. For directors, it says that continuing to act after the deadline without complying is an offence, and that the company and all its directors may also be committing an offence.

Companies House also says that in the future it will publish a note against the name of anyone who has not verified, and that they will be unable to be appointed as a new director, register a new company or register as an authorised agent.

The current guidance says Companies House will use the full range of its powers to make sure everyone complies. The 2025 rollout announcement also says it will help and support enterprises to comply and will adopt a proportionate approach to enforcement. Once you have verified, the code goes on the next confirmation statement in the usual way.

Verification is also part of keeping the register accurate, which sits within a director's wider responsibilities. Our post on director duties covers those in general terms.

When is this not the answer?

If you have already verified, given your code on the latest confirmation statement and, where it applies, given it again as a PSC, there may be nothing more to do. A quick look at the company's entry on the register will confirm it, and your code can go somewhere safe for the next filing.

A letter from Companies House about not complying, or anything about a prosecution or penalty, is a matter for a solicitor. Anyone who verifies you as an authorised agent has to be a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider, such as an accountant or solicitor who has registered. Vanquish Capital is not an authorised agent, a solicitor or an accountant, and we will tell you when you need one.

Sometimes the company itself is in difficulty, and the confirmation statement is only one of several things overdue. Then the filing is a symptom. A licensed insolvency practitioner is the right person to advise on the company's overall position.

Who can help you keep the register in order?

Most of this is admin: knowing who holds which role, when each code is due and whether the details on the register are right. It is easy to lose track of when the company has several directors, or when the same people sit on more than one company.

If you would like a calm, confidential look at where your company stands, you can book a confidential consultation. We can help you list every director and PSC, check the register, map the due dates and agree a simple routine with your accountant. You can read more about our legal and compliance support.