New Director Identity Requirements at Companies House

Posted by Helen Delbridge
Financial district of London city on a sunny day

What is changing?

Companies House have brought in some significant changes for all company directors, People with Significant Control (PSCs), and those filing on behalf of entities (such as Wellden Turnbull).

From the Autumn, those mentioned above, will have to verify their identity with Companies House. This is part of the new requirements as part of the Economic and Corporate Transparency Act, which aims amongst other things, to improve the reliability of information held at Companies House.

You may have already had a letter from Companies House advising you of the changes.

 Who does it impact?

If you are an existing company director or PSC of a UK company, or member of an LLP, it will be mandatory for you to have your ID verified.  When you verify your identity, you’ll get a unique personal code, which is unique to you as an individual, not as a company.

If you need to incorporate a new company all directors must be verified before you incorporate.

If you wish to add a new director to an existing company, all directors (including the new director) must be verified to process the change at Companies House.

When is it brought in?

You can already voluntarily verify your identity, this was brought in from April 2025.

From Autumn 2025, identity verification becomes mandatory for directors and PSCs at the point of incorporation or appointment.

There will then follow a 12 month transition period for existing directors and PSCs, which will end in Autumn 2026.

Importantly, from Autumn 2025, we will need all directors/PSCs codes before we can file the company’s confirmation statement.

How do I verify my identity?

There are three main ways to verify your identity:

How can Wellden Turnbull help me?

Our recommendation is firstly to use the Companies House service. Several of our staff and Directors have used it, and it is relatively simple and straight forward to use, and takes around 10 minutes.

We will not be providing a verification service as an ACSP, but if you struggle to use the Companies House service, we are happy to arrange a meeting for you to come in where we can sit with you and go through it together. We will charge our time costs for this service.

What do I need in order to use the Companies House Service?

You can verify online if you have the identity documents or information required. This route uses GOV.UK One Login to verify your identity and is free of charge.

You’ll need one of the following types of photo ID:

GOV.UK One Login will ask you some simple questions to find the best way for you to verify your identity online. Depending on your answers, you’ll then be guided to verify using a GOV.UK mobile phone app or in your web browser.

We generally find it best to sit in front of a laptop/desktop, but then have a mobile phone with a camera ready to take photographs of your ID. The service wants to take an image of the live document, and of you. It does not want to use an existing photograph on your phone. You may need to move to find somewhere without glare if there are considerable reflections when you try to take a photograph.

Depending which form of ID you use, a common question that is asked whilst using the service is often how long you have been living at your current address, so we would recommend having that answer to hand.

What if I don’t comply?

You won’t be able to make any filing at Companies House, or incorporate a new company/entity.

You & your company may also be committing an office and may have to pay a financial penalty or fine, and you may be disqualified as a director.

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