Verify your identity for Companies House: directors and PSCs

Check whether you must verify

This guide covers the whole UK. The rules, deadlines, personal codes and ways to verify are the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The one difference is the wording of the penalty on conviction. The penalty sections below cover it for each nation.

The guide is for directors and people with significant control (PSCs) of companies registered at Companies House. Companies House is the registrar for companies across the UK.

If you are a director or a PSC, you must verify. Verifying through GOV.UK One Login is free, and each person verifies once. You then give your personal code for each company and each role you hold.

A company secretary who only files documents for a company is not required to verify at the moment. Companies House has announced that it will require filers to verify at a later date. It has not given a date, so treat this as announced, not yet in force. If you are also a director or a PSC, you must verify in that role.

You are a PSC if you meet any of these conditions.

For the duties that come with being a PSC, read Persons with Significant Control (PSC) register requirements.

Find your deadline

Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. GOV.UK says that date is not a deadline. It marks the start of a 12-month transition for people who were already directors or PSCs. Within that transition, your deadline depends on your role.

You may see 18 November 2026 quoted as the date by which everyone must have verified. Neither the regulations nor the GOV.UK guidance give that date. Your own due date is the one that counts, and it may fall well before the end of the transition. Do not wait for the end of it.

Existing directors

You are an existing director if your company appointed you before 18 November 2025. Your company must deliver your personal code with its next confirmation statement. Companies House emails companies before the confirmation statement is due to remind them to provide an identity verification statement for each director, so verify before then.

If you direct more than one company, you give the same personal code for each company.

Follow these steps:

If a company delivers its confirmation statement late, the rules on acting as an unverified director apply again once the delivery period ends. Do not rely on the company filing late.

People with significant control

If you were already a PSC before 18 November 2025 and you are not a director, your deadline is a short window set by the month of your birth. If you are both a director and a PSC, you give your code for each role. As a director, you give it with the confirmation statement. As a PSC, you give it in a separate 14-day window.

Use the list below to find your window. The register at Companies House shows the due date for your company. Check it against what you read here.

New directors, new PSCs and new companies

From 18 November 2025, a new director must verify before acting as a director. New directors must also verify to be appointed to an existing company or to incorporate a new one, and the incorporation filing asks for each director's personal code. If you are forming a company, verify before you start the application.

To form a company, read Set up a limited company. If you are moving an existing business into a company, read Change from sole trader to limited company.

Choose how to verify

Verifying through GOV.UK One Login is free. Choose the route that matches the ID you hold. If your photo ID has expired, check the expiry rules before you start, because the routes accept expired ID differently. An authorised corporate service provider (ACSP) is an accountant, solicitor or similar professional registered with Companies House. They may charge for their service.

Look after your personal code

Your personal code belongs to you, not to your company. Treat it like a password. Companies House can change a code that has been compromised. The old code is then cancelled.

What happens if you do not verify

An unverified director must not act as a director after the relevant date. New directors must verify to be appointed to a company or to incorporate one. If you miss a due date, expect a default letter. You can make representations if your circumstances were exceptional.

A failure to verify does not make the director's past acts invalid. It can still be an offence for the individual, for the company and for every officer in default.

Penalty in England and Wales

In England and Wales, the penalty on summary conviction is a fine. The Companies Act 2006 does not set a maximum in the section. The first convictions were at a court in London.

If you hold a role in the company, do not assume the other directors are verified. A director who has verified can still be prosecuted for not taking reasonable steps to stop an unverified co-director acting.

Penalty in Scotland and Northern Ireland

The verification rules are the same in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Only the penalty wording differs. The offence list above sets out the maximum fine and the daily default fine for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Spot scams about identity verification

Scammers use the verification deadline to pressure directors. Companies House says it will never call you to ask for secure information. A caller who asks you to pay a late filing penalty over the phone is a known scam. Verifying through GOV.UK One Login is free. Do not click links in unexpected emails, and do not give a stranger your personal code.

Do not sell or give away your identity so that someone you do not trust can set up or run a company. You can become legally responsible for debts taken out in your name.

Ask Companies House if you are unsure

If you cannot tell which deadline applies to you, if a due date is about to pass or if your details on the register are wrong, contact Companies House before the date. Use the contact page on GOV.UK, not a number from an unexpected message. If you use an accountant or solicitor, ask them to check your due date at the same time.