Update, 10 November 2026: identity verification is now a legal requirement for every company director and person with significant control (PSC). If you were a director before 18 November 2025, you give your personal code when your company files its next confirmation statement. In September 2026 the Insolvency Service brought the first prosecutions, and three directors were fined between £80 and £307, plus costs.
If you’ve recently received an email as shown below, you will need to verify your identity with Companies House. There are 2 methods for this, you can either:
- Do it yourself for free - This article will guide you through the process of verifying your identity online.
- Use an authorised agent - We are an approved agent for Companies House ID verification, please click here if you want us to handle this for you. We charge £195+VAT for this service.
About Companies House ID Verification
Why You Need to Verify
The new Companies House ID checks have been released to combat individuals using companies for illegal purposes, such as fraud.
Upon successfully verifying your ID you will be provided with a Companies House personal code - personal to you, not to any company. This code will be needed in the future, for example, when:
- Filing your confirmation statement
- Becoming a Person with Significant Control (PSC)
- Being appointed a director
Who Must Verify
All directors, members, general partners and managing officers will need to verify their identities. In addition, any PSC, Authorised Corporate Service Provider (e.g. your accountant) and anyone who files for a company (e.g. secretary) will also need to verify.
When to Verify
Verification is now a legal requirement.
- Directors appointed before 18 November 2025: give your personal code as part of your company's next confirmation statement. The company cannot file that statement until every director has verified.
- New directors: you must verify before you can be appointed. Our guide to appointing a company director covers the rest of the process.
- PSCs: you have a 14-day window to give your personal code. If you are also a director, it starts the day after the company's confirmation statement date. If you are not a director, it is the first 14 days of your birth month.
Why this matters if you sell online
If you don't verify on time, Companies House can prosecute you, fine you, stop you becoming a director of another company and put a note against your name on the public register. Marketplaces, payment providers and lenders check company details against the register, so a note like that is the last thing you want when they review your business.
Your company also can't file its confirmation statement until every director has verified. Missed filings can lead to the company being struck off, and a struck-off company's assets, including stock and money held by marketplaces, pass to the Crown.
Every director and PSC verifies personally. That includes a spouse or partner who is a director or shareholder on paper but doesn't work in the business.
Verifying protects the register from fraud, and you can protect your own company too: Companies House PROOF stops anyone changing your registered office on paper.
Ways to Verify
We will cover the Online method in detail below but there are 3 ways to complete verification:
- Online - Uses the GOV.UK One Login app and is free of charge
- Post Office - You may be able to verify in person at your local post office, you can learn more about verifying at the Post Office here.
- Use an ACSP - We are one such Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), please click here if you’d like us to handle this for you.
How to Complete Companies House Identity Verification
Using the online method, we found it easiest to complete the full process using a smartphone rather than jumping between a computer and a phone.
You may wish to watch our short video on this process but here is a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Go to the page shown below by clicking here. If you're currently reading this on a computer, you can use your phone to scan the QR code below to navigate to the same page via Bitly.
Step 2: Scrolling down, this page lists what you’ll need, at the bottom click Verify your identity.
Step 3: Click Go to GOV.UK One Login
Step 4: Click Create your GOV.UK One Login
Step 5: You MUST enter the email address associated with your Companies House account. Then Continue.
Step 6: Input the 6 digit security code sent to your email and Continue.
Step 7: Create your password and Continue. After this, you’ll need to set up 2 factor authentication via your mobile number or authenticator app.
Step 8: Once you’ve created your GOV.UK One Login, you’re ready to start ID verification. Click Open GOV.UK ID Check.
Step 9: Select whether your identity has been verified yet, if not, select No and then Continue.
Step 10: Again, click Continue.
Step 11: Answer whether you live in the “UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man” or “Another country”, then click Continue.
Step 12: Select whether or not you have the types of photo ID and Continue.
Step 13: Select whether you are on a Computer or Tablet or Smartphone. We recommend doing this on a Smartphone which we’ve selected here. Click Continue.
Step 14: Select which smartphone you’re using and Continue.
Step 15: Select whether or not you have a valid passport, we’ve selected “Yes”, then Continue.
Step 16: Select whether or not your passport has this symbol on the cover, we’ve selected “Yes”, then Continue.
Step 17: To use your passport and the ID Check app to verify your identity, click Continue.
Step 18: IMPORTANT: Keep this specific page open or bookmarked as you need to come back to it, then click Download GOV.UK ID Check app.
Step 19: Once downloaded, return to this page and click Link GOV.UK ID Check.
Step 20: Once linked, on the app, you’ll see this page, click Continue to scan your passport’s photo page.
Step 21: Once scanned, click Continue.
Step 22: Next, follow the prompts and click Continue to scan the biometric chip on your passport’s cover page.
Step 23: Lastly, click Start to scan your face with your selfie camera.
Step 24: Click Go to GOV.UK to exit the app.
Step 25: A confirmation message should appear, click Continue
Step 26: Enter your postcode and click Find address
Step 27: On this page, click Continue to the service
Step 28: Allow Gov.UK to check your details by clicking Continue
Step 29: The final page should state “Identity verification complete.” Ensure you safely store your Companies House personal code as you will need this in the future. You're done!
Next steps
For those wanting a DIY route, we hope this guide helps you successfully verify. A reminder that we are an authorised agent, please click here if you'd like us to handle this for you.
If you haven't verified yet, do it now, before your company's next confirmation statement is due. If you're already a client, feel free to pass on your Companies House personal code to your accountant. If you'd rather we looked after your company's accounts, see our accounting service for ecommerce companies, or book a discovery call.
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