By Autumn 2025, Companies House is expected to make identity verification (IDV) a compulsory part of new company incorporations and a requirement both for existing and newly appointed directors as well as persons with significant control (PSCs).
Companies House hope that this system will make the UK company structures more transparent and prevent the abuse of UK companies by exploitative individuals.
Who will this apply to?
The compulsory identification process is expected to apply to the following:
- directors and those equivalent of a director (for example, members and general partners);
- PSCs; and
- those filing documents on behalf of companies at Companies House (for example, a company secretary).
An individual will not be able to deliver documents to Companies House on behalf of another person, unless that person’s own identity has been verified by Companies House.
How can you verify your identity?
Identity can be verified in the following three ways:
- Online by the individual themselves – the individual can verify their own identity online. This route uses the GOV.UK One Login and is free of charge. The GOV.UK One Login will ask the individual some simple questions to find the best way for them to verify their identity online. Depending on the answers provided, the individual will then be guided to verify their identity using a GOV.UK mobile phone app or web browser. More information can be found at: Verify your identity for Companies House.
- In person at a Post Office – if the individual lives in the UK, they may be able to verify their identity in person at a Post Office free of charge. The individual will need to use the ’Verify your identity for Companies House’ service first to find out if they can verify their identity this way. More information can be found at: Find out more about verifying at a Post Office.
- Using an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) – an individual can ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify their identity on their behalf. ACSPs are individuals or organisations that undertake anti-money laundering supervised activity and have applied to be authorised by Companies House to verify identification. An ACSP will require the individual to provide documents from an approved list as evidence of their identity and may charge a fee for this service.
When will this come into place?
Companies House have not provided a specific date at which identity verification will become mandatory, however the updates released confirm it is expected to be from Autumn 2025.
Once an individual has verified their identity, they will receive a unique reference code that will need to be entered at Companies House in order to file a company’s confirmation statement from Autumn 2025. It is therefore important that all companies verify the identity of existing directors and PSCs to obtain these codes prior to the next confirmation statement filing date.
It is expected that by the end of 2026 the transition period will be complete for IDV and Companies House will start compliance activity against individuals who have failed to verify their identity.
Failure to verify identity:
An individual who fails to register their identity or fails to meet the identity verification requirements could be subject to the following:
- financial penalties;
- criminal charges; and
- potential removal from the register.
If you have any queries on the above please do not hesitate to contact our Corporate team.
