Verify identity for Companies House

Mr Paul Clifton
17 minutes ago
5 min read

New legislation and requirements

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 is reforming the role of Companies House and helping to improve transparency over UK companies and other legal entities to strengthen the UK business environment, support national security and help to disrupt economic crime, like money laundering. This legislation is bringing Companies House and the UK legal framework into line with modern day practices.

The Act introduces the biggest changes to Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844.

When does it start?

By autumn 2025, Companies House will start to implement new identity verification requirements where all directors and persons of significant shareholder (PSC) for new incorporations will be required to verify their identity at the point of incorporation.

A PSC is a shareholder or owner that holds more than 25% of the share capital and/or votes in a limited company or the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors.

Also from autumn 2025, there will be a transition period of 12 months for existing companies who will be required to provide identity verification credentials for their directors and PSCs when their confirmation statement is due. This will start with companies filing their annual Companies House Companies House from autumn 2025. By the time we reach autumn 2026, all director and PSC should have been verified.

Who can do the verifying?

Some businesses that deal with Companies House filings, e.g. accountants and solicitors, may register as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). They could then verify clients’ ID rather than clients having to deal with it yourself. However, the ID checks required will be far greater and onerous than just taking copies of passports, driving licences etc. ACSPs may need to purchase special software and equipment to scan codes embedded within passport etc.

Most director-shareholder clients should be perfectly capable of running through the process on the GOV.UK website. You may wish to investigate verifying yourself soon and obtaining a personal code for future filing requirement at Companies House. It should take around 20 minutes from start to finish.

Getting your personal code from GOV.UK

If you are a director or significant shareholder in a limited company, you can create and then use a GOV.UK One Login account to verify your ID. You’ll then receive a personal ID code which will be required to file your personal details at Companies House.

Over time, GOV.UK One Login will replace all other ways to sign in to services on GOV.UK, including the Government Gateway.

You can start the ID verification process at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verify-your-identity-for-companies-house which will hopefully result in you receiving your ‘personal code.’

What you need

You can verify yourself online with GOV.UK if you have one of the following types of photo ID:

biometric passport from any country
UK photo driving licence (full or provisional)
UK biometric residence permit
UK biometric residence card
UK Frontier Worker permit

Biometric passports have a small rectangular symbol on the front cover. All UK passports issued after 2006 are biometric.

You’ll also need:

your current address, and the year you moved in
to sign in to or create a GOV.UK One Login

Your verified identity will be connected to your GOV.UK One Login

You will need a separate email address for each person i.e. you cannot use the same email to verify the ID of husband and wife or two partners etc.

If you do not have an email address, smart phone, appropriate ID document etc, there is an option to get verified at the Post Office.

Laptop, computer or smart phone app?

You can use a desktop/laptop computer or mobile phone to start the set-up process. If you start the process on a desktop/laptop computer, with a larger keyboard, mouse and screen, you can temporarily move to use your mobile smart phone, to take photos/scans of you and your passport etc. You can then finish the process on your desktop/laptop computer.

Part way through the setup process, on your desktop/laptop, you can scan an onscreen QR code with your smart phone’s camera to temporarily transfer the process to your smart phone. You can then:

Download and install the ‘GOV.UK ID Check’ app
Photograph your passport photo page
Photograph yourself with a head photo
Scan the biometric chip within the front cover of your passport (using NFC)

If you started the process on a desktop/laptop computer, you are returned to your desktop/laptop computer to complete the setup process of your GOV.UK One Login account.

At the very end of the process, you are issued with a short ‘personal code’.

What exactly is the personal code?

As it says, the ‘personal code’ is personal to you, not your company or a company you work for. If you are a director or a Persons of Significant Control (PSC) you’ll need to use your Companies House personal code to connect your verified identity to the Companies House online records on you. This will be a new requirement from autumn 2025. You should therefore consider getting your personal code soon whilst you have the time. It will help to ensure that Companies House know the correct person is linked to the verified ID and name shown on the Companies House file.

Using your personal code

You will need your personal code for several reasons including:

as part of filing a Companies House Confirmation Statement each year,
if you are appointed as a director of a company
if you become a person of significant control (PSC) of a company.

In the future, it is expected that when filing a Confirmation Statement, adding you as a new director or a PSC to the online records at Companies House that your personal code will be entered as part your personal details e.g. name, address, date of birth etc. This will be to help ensure that the details held at Companies House relate to a real person and where their name on the online filing record is linked to an actual ID verified person.

If you are a director or PSC on several companies, you can use the same personal code to verify your identity for all your individual appointments. In theory, you will only need to be verified once. I’m aware that some directors and PSC sometimes have several personal records at Companies House, linked to different companies, sometimes with slightly different name and addresses. You will need to ensure that you full name, as shown on your passport or other ID document, is recorded the same at Companies House.

Sharing your personal code

You may need to share this personal code with people you trust who file documents at Companies House on your behalf e.g. an accountant or solicitor. The personal code is not a password but a link to a verified person’s ID record. Therefore, keep your personal code safe just like you would with your National Insurance number or 10-digit Unique Taxpayer’s Reference.

Updating your details

You can sign in to your GOV.UK One Login at https://www.gov.uk/account to: