Companies House has moved from a largely passive registrar — recording whatever it was told — to an active gatekeeper with real power to query, reject, and act on the information it holds. Identity verification for directors and PSCs is the centerpiece of that shift, and it is now the law, not a proposal.
Why This Changed
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 gave Companies House new powers and responsibilities, including a legal requirement for directors and Persons with Significant Control to verify their identity, mandatory from 18 November 2025. The reform responds to long-standing concerns that the UK company register — historically one of the most open and lightly checked in the world — had been exploited to create companies using false, stolen, or fictitious identities, including their use in international fraud and money-laundering schemes. Verification is designed to confirm the people named as directors and PSCs are real, consenting individuals, and to protect people whose identities have been used without their permission.
Who Is Actually Covered
Every individual acting as a director of a UK company is in scope, regardless of whether the company is trading, dormant, or a holding company — this includes directors appointed before 18 November 2025 and every new appointment since. Persons with Significant Control face the same requirement: broadly, anyone owning more than 25 percent of shares or voting rights, holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise exercising significant influence. There is no exemption for directors or PSCs living outside the UK — the obligation follows the company, not the person's location.
The Two Verification Routes
You can verify directly through GOV.UK One Login, free, using an accepted identity document, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider for a fee — useful if you are overseas, do not hold a UK-recognised ID document, or are verifying several directors or PSCs at once. Either way, identity verification only needs to be completed once: it verifies the person, not the company, and produces a personal code that then needs to be actively connected to every relevant company and role you hold.
The Deadline Nobody Should Assume
Treating 18 November 2026 as ‘your’ deadline is the single most common and most risky misunderstanding of this regime. For most people, the real deadline is tied to their company's next confirmation statement date, which is very likely to fall earlier than November 2026. If you were a director before 18 November 2025, you must provide your personal code as part of your company's next confirmation statement filing — check that specific date on the Companies House register rather than assuming you have until next November.
Read next: Companies House ID Verification: The November 2026 Deadline Explained
Where to Go From Here
The Companies House ID Verification Compliance Blueprint walks through both verification routes step by step, the exact deadline calculation for your specific role, and worksheets for tracking multiple companies and deadlines if you hold more than one directorship.
Get The Companies House ID Verification Compliance Blueprint →
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This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Companies House requirements are being phased in and can change — confirm your specific deadline directly on GOV.UK.