Companies House identity verification: what founders, directors and investors must do

By Buzz Accounting · 10 September 2026

Identity verification became a legal requirement at Companies House on 18 November 2025. New companies and new appointments needed verification straight away. Existing directors and people with significant control (PSCs), meaning anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights or otherwise controls the company, were given a transition period, so for most companies nothing changed on that day.

Companies House publishes compliance figures. At the end of June 2026, more than seven months after verification began, 55.3% of director appointments and 41.9% of individual PSC appointments had been verified (Companies House management information, April to June 2026). Across all appointment types, 7,364,599 appointments had been verified, 49.7% of the total, so just over half had not, including nearly three in five individual PSC appointments.

A confirmation statement is rejected unless every director has verified. The confirmation statement is the filing, made at least once a year, that confirms who owns and runs your company, and an investor's lawyers will check your filing history during due diligence.

What each person has to do

The rules depend on the role someone holds. One person can hold two roles, each with its own deadline.

An existing director of an existing company. You give your Companies House personal code as part of the company's next confirmation statement. That is the deadline for most companies, and the confirmation statement will not be accepted without it.
A new director. Anyone who became a director on or after 18 November 2025 gives their personal code in the appointment filing, and a new company's registration filing must include the code for every director.
Someone who is both a director and a PSC. The same personal code has to be given for each role: in the confirmation statement for the director role, and for the PSC role within the 14 days starting the day after the confirmation statement date.
A PSC who is not a director and was on the register before 18 November 2025. This deadline does not depend on the company's filing dates. The code is due within the first 14 days of the PSC's birth month.
A PSC added since 18 November 2025. Verification is due when they are first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added.

Verifying takes a few minutes online through GOV.UK One Login, or it can be done through an authorised corporate service provider. Each person gets an 11-character personal code. The code belongs to the person, so one verification covers every company where they are a director or PSC.

Why this matters more for a startup that has raised money

A company with one director and one shareholder has one person to verify. A startup that has raised money has a shareholder register that changes with each round, and each change can create a verification duty for someone new.

A funding round can create new PSCs. Anyone who ends up holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights becomes a person with significant control. This can happen on a small seed round when an angel investor takes a large stake in a company with few shareholders. That investor must give their code when they are added to the register or within 14 days of being added, so tell them about the requirement before the round completes.

Corporate investors follow different rules. Where the PSC is a company, such as a venture capital fund, a holding company or a corporate investor, verification for the officers of corporate PSCs has not started yet. Companies House has said it will introduce it later, along with verification for people who file documents and for corporate directors. A round can therefore leave you with individual PSCs who must verify now and corporate PSCs whose officers will have to verify once those rules start.

Due diligence checks your filing history. A confirmation statement filed late because a co-founder had not verified shows in the company's filing history, which investors' lawyers check before the money is invested.

To check your own company, list every current director and PSC, note whether each holds one role or two, and check whether each has given you their 11-character personal code. A director without a code will stop your next confirmation statement being accepted.

Further changes planned by Companies House

Verification will be extended to people who file documents at Companies House, to corporate directors, to corporate members of limited liability partnerships, to limited partnerships and to the officers of corporate PSCs. Dates have not been fixed for all of these.

Separately, filing on a company's behalf will be restricted to firms registered as authorised corporate service providers, no earlier than November 2027, and Companies House will give at least six months' notice. If your accountant files for you, ask them whether they are registered.

Where we help

If we file your confirmation statement, we track identity verification as part of that work and ask each director and PSC for their code before the filing date. If we do not file it for you, use the check above before your next confirmation statement is due.

Common questions

Who has to verify their identity at Companies House?

Every director and every individual person with significant control of a UK company, plus members of limited liability partnerships. It has been a legal requirement since 18 November 2025. Verification is done once per person and produces an 11-character personal code, which is then given for every appointment the person holds.

What happens if a director has not verified?

The company's confirmation statement is rejected until every director has provided their personal code. If the statement then goes past its deadline, the public register shows it as overdue, and investors and lenders check the register.

When does a person with significant control who is not a director have to verify?

It depends when they became a PSC. Someone who was on the register before 18 November 2025 gives their code within the first 14 days of their birth month. Someone added since then gives their code when they are added, or within 14 days of being added, so an investor who became a PSC in your seed round has a deadline that runs from when they were added to the register.

Does an investor who took more than 25% in our round have to verify?

If they are an individual, yes. Holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights makes them a person with significant control, and they must give their code when added to the register or within 14 days of being added. If the investor is a fund or another company, verification for the officers of corporate PSCs has not started yet, and Companies House has said it will introduce it later.

How long does verification take and what does it cost?

Verifying directly through GOV.UK One Login is free and usually takes a few minutes with photo ID. It can also be done through an authorised corporate service provider, who may charge for it. The usual delay is getting every person on the register to do it.

Do I need to verify separately for each company I am a director of?

No. The personal code belongs to you, so one verification covers every appointment you hold. The code still has to be given for each company, and if you are both a director and a PSC of the same company, it must be given separately for each role.