02 September 2025
Jack Bull, corporate solicitor considers the recent changes to identity verifications with Companies House.
From November 18 2025, all company directors and people with significant control (PSCs) will need to verify their identity with Companies House under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
For company directors
18 November marks the start of a transition year where all directors must verify their identity before filing their company’s next confirmation statement. That said, if your company’s confirmation statement is due on 31 March 2026, all directors must be verified by that date.
Directors will need to provide the personal code and a verification statement for each director on the confirmation statement. If you do not do this, your company will not be able to submit the filing.
To add to the admin burden, for directors of multiple companies, directors will need to do this for each company separately, using the same personal code each time.
The immediate takeaway for companies is to check when your next confirmation statement is due and ensure you have verified identity before then.
For all new companies after 18 November
In addition to the above, from 18 November, directors will need to provide identity verification details to incorporate a new company or be appointed to an existing company.
For persons with significant control (PSC)
For all individuals who qualify to be a PSC (broadly speaking meaning anyone holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights in a Company), they will need to provide a personal code to Companies House for the role as a PSC. There will be an online service to do this when the requirement comes into effect on 18 November.
Every PSC will have a 14-day period during which they must provide their personal code.
The dates of the 14-day period depend on whether:
The individual was registered as a PSC with Companies House before 18 November
The individual is also a director of this company
Consequences of non-compliance
Failure to comply with the verification process may result in the commission of a criminal offence resulting in a fine or financial penalty. The Company, the directors and the non-conforming individual could all face sanction and in extreme cases disqualification as a director.
In practical terms, a relevant person whose identity has not been verified will not be able to be registered as a director at Companies House or make filings on behalf of a Company.
When to verify
The verification process will be live from 18 November 2025 and to avoid overlooking this requirement, the service can be utilised straight away.
If you would like assistance from AMD’s Corporate Team, please contact Jack Bull on 0117 9733989 or by email to info@amdsolicitors.com .
