What changed, and when
Since 18 November 2025, verifying your identity with Companies House has been compulsory for anyone becoming a new director or person with significant control, and for anyone incorporating a new company. The requirement was introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and its purpose is straightforward: Companies House wants confidence that the people named on the register are who they say they are.
Directors and PSCs who were already on the register when the rule took effect were not required to verify immediately. They were given a transition period instead, running for twelve months from 18 November 2025, to allow verification without disrupting an existing role.
Companies House has said it will not take enforcement action against someone who fails to verify during the transition period itself. Once the period closes, that changes, and compliance activity against directors and PSCs who have not verified is expected to follow.
What the deadline actually requires
Verifying your identity is not the only step. Each director needs a personal code from Companies House, and that code must be provided the next time the company files a confirmation statement. A confirmation statement submitted without the required codes will be rejected.
In practice, the working deadline for most companies is whichever comes first: the date their next confirmation statement falls due, or the end of the transition period. A company due to file in October 2026 needs its directors verified well before then. One due to file after the transition period closes has no room left at all.
People with significant control are subject to a similar requirement, but on a timetable tied to their own role rather than the company's filing date. Where a PSC is not also a director, check the current Companies House guidance for the date that applies to that individual rather than assuming it matches the company's confirmation statement.
What happens if it is missed
The immediate consequence is procedural. A confirmation statement cannot be filed without the codes, and a company that cannot file falls behind on a statutory obligation with no other way to put it right.
Failing to verify is a criminal offence under the legislation. Companies House's enforcement powers include financial penalties against the company or the individual officer, referral to the Insolvency Service, which can lead to director disqualification, and annotating the public register to show non-compliance.
This is aimed at directors and PSCs who do not verify at all, not someone briefly delayed by an oversight. Even so, leaving it until after the transition period closes removes any margin for correcting an oversight before it matters.
Two ways to verify
Verification can be completed directly with Companies House, free of charge, through GOV.UK One Login. For someone with an in-date passport or other accepted photo identification, this is usually a short process.
It can also be completed through an authorised corporate service provider — a business registered with Companies House to carry out verification on its behalf. This suits directors whose documents were issued overseas, directors who would rather have the requirements confirmed before they start, or anyone verifying on behalf of several people connected with the same company. Neither route is inherently better; which suits which circumstances is covered in more detail in our earlier article on the authorised agent route.
Before the transition period ends
A short list of what is worth checking now, rather than in November:
- Your company's next confirmation statement date
- Every current director and person with significant control, including anyone appointed some years ago who may have been overlooked
- Whether each of them holds identification that will be accepted, particularly for directors based overseas
- Which route suits each individual, and enough time to complete it before it is needed
- The email address used for verification — Companies House sends the personal code there, not to the company
A compliance step, not legal advice
Identity verification confirms who someone is. It does not review whether a director is meeting their wider duties, and it is not legal advice on any other question a director, shareholder or PSC may have.
Where verification is arranged through a practice that also gives legal advice, the two remain separate instructions with separate scope.
This article is general information. It is not advice on your matter, it cannot take account of your circumstances, and the law changes. If you have been asked to sign something, take advice on the document in front of you.