If, like me, you’re a director or named person at Companies House, you will probably have received correspondence from Companies House about the changes they are implementing in relation to mandatory identity verification.

These new rules, which come into effect on 18 November 2025, are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. They are designed to improve corporate transparency in the UK as well as tackle economic crime.

The rules will have a direct impact on Directors, Persons of Significant Control (PSCs) and individuals who file information with Companies House.

From 18 November 2025, certain individuals will have to verify their identity with Companies House or potentially face sanctions. There are different time scales and processes depending on your role within a company.

What do I need to do?

The key date for most people will be the date on which the company is first required to file a confirmation statement after 18 November 2025. The confirmation statement needs to be filed on an annual basis for each company so by 17 November 2026, you will have to verify your identity.

If you are a director, you need to have verified your identity before the confirmation statement is filed.

If you are person with significant control (which generally means you hold more than 25% of the shares in the company), you will need to verify your identity within 14 days of the company’s confirmation statement being filed.

If you are a PSC and a director, you need to verify your identity for both roles.

If you are a PSC and/or director for more than one company, you will need to verify your identity for each role and each company.

The good news is that you only need to do the actual verification once. This produces a code which you can then enter to verify your identity for each company/ role.

The Process

Before emailing you all to explain what is happening and what you need to do, I thought it was important that I gave it a go.

The process of the actual verification was not too bad. It took about 15 minutes. I had to reset two passwords and enter various security codes. I needed my iPhone and my biometric passport so make sure you have those to hand before you start.

If you do not have a biometric passport, there are other ID types you can use (a list of them is at the end of this email). The easiest way to verify your ID is using a smart phone.

To start the process, go to GOV.UK – Verify your identity for Companies House and select ‘Verify your identity’.

This will take you to GOV.UK One Login which is the service you need use to verify your identity. You will either need to create a GOV.UK One Login account or sign in to an existing one. I had a log-in already hence the need to change passwords.

You will be asked to follow some steps such as taking a photo of your ID, snapping a selfie and, if you are using a passport, scanning the chip inside it. You will also need to provide your current address and let them know the date you started living there. If you have moved recently, they will want some historic address information.

Once you have completed the steps, you will be provided with a personal code. You will need this code whenever you file something for a company, become a director or become listed as a PSC. This code is personal to you, not the company.

Take a screenshot of your personal code as I did not receive an email with it. However, you can access it in the ‘Manage account’ section of your Companies House account. You need to keep it secure but you can share it with people who file on your behalf. Companies House will ask for your code whenever you need to prove you are verified.

What happens if I don’t comply?

If you do not verify your identity, you will not be able to file anything with Companies House which could lead to the company being struck off for failing to file a confirmation statement.

Note that not following the rules is actually a criminal offence and could mean you get a fine. As a director, you could even be disqualified.

So, it is really important to get your identity verified to avoid these problems and keep your company on the right side of the new rules.

If I was you, I would get this sorted now so that when it comes to filing your confirmation statement (whether you do this or someone does it on your behalf), you have all of the relevant details.

We are here to help so if you have any questions about these new requirements, please contact Gemma Jones via email [email protected] or call 01256 460830.

Written by Jack Gardener, Partner and Head of Corporate and Commercial.

Other ID documents

If you don’t have a biometric passport, the other ID documents you can use to verify your identity are:

• UK photo driving licence (full or provisional)
• UK biometric residence permit (BRP)
• UK biometric residence card (BRC)
• UK Frontier Worker permit (FWP)