Company directors and people with significant control (PSCs) must be aware of the rollout of mandatory identity verification from November 2025.
Companies House has confirmed that from 18 November, it will be phasing in the verification system over the next 12 months. You have been able to verify your identity voluntarily since April 2025. But from November it becomes a legal requirement.
That means if you are a company director or a PSC, you will be legally required to verify your identity. So what’s changing and what will happen if you fail to verify your identity when required?
What are the identity verification changes?
From 18 November 2025 the following changes will take place. Anyone forming a company after 18 November 2025 will need to meet the verification rules immediately. The changes are:
- New company directors must verify their identity before setting up a new company or before they can be appointed to an existing one. This will be a mandatory part of the registration process.
- Anyone who is an existing director will be required to confirm their identity when submitting their next annual confirmation statement. This is required within the 12-month transition period and comes alongside the new rules about providing a valid registered email address.
- Current PSCs must also verify their identity within 12 months of the start of the mandatory verification, which means before 18 November 2026.
The verification rollout will be completed by November 2026, when all directors and PSCs will have had their identities verified.
How do I verify my identity?
If you need to verify your identity with Companies House you can use the gov.uk One login, which is free. Or you can verify through an authorised corporate service provider, or ACSP.
Once you have verified your identity you will receive a personal code from Companies House. They say that you will only need to verify once regardless of how many director positions you hold. But you should double check that that’s happened. It’s your responsibility to have your identity verified.
Non-compliance
If you fail to comply with the new requirements, you will be committing a criminal offence. Company directors or PSCs who fail to verify could be fined, disqualified from company roles or the company’s filings could be rejected. The company’s records could also be marked publicly as non-compliant on the Companies House register.
Why is this happening?
Companies House is bringing in a lot of new rules over the coming years. They say they are doing so because it’s better for business confidence. As well as the new identity requirements, there are also changes to company accounts coming soon.
Those changes, which we have already mentioned in an earlier post, include the end of abridged or filleted accounts for small businesses.
All these changes are to help increase transparency in business, the government says. They also say that both these changes will help tackle economic crime.
The government believes that businesses of all sizes will gain from more reliable and accurate information about companies.
In a recent press release, Competition and Markets Minister Just Madders MP said, “Identity verification will play a key role in giving confidence to investors and consumers alike, ensuring greater transparency about the organisations they do business with.
“Increasing confidence attracts investment and is an essential part of our mission for growth and Plan for Change. We will continue to make the process for registering as a company director as trusted and efficient as possible.”
What should I do now?
If you fail to comply, you risk a fine and your company could also be implicated. And it could create problems with clients or potential clients in the future if you don’t keep records updated.
If you are struggling with compliance due to increasing pressure on your time, contact us today. We can help take the pressure off so you can spend more time on your business and personal goals.
