Checked against GOV.UK guidance on Companies House identity verification (last updated 30 July 2026) on 2 November 2026
The short answer: yes. If you are a director or a person with significant control (a PSC) of a UK company, you must verify your identity with Companies House. There is no single deadline of 17 or 18 November 2026 that applies to everyone, whatever you may have read elsewhere. Your own date depends on your company's confirmation statement, or, for some PSCs, your birth month. Miss it, and Companies House can reject your filing, treat it as an offence and issue a financial penalty.
Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. Since then, it has caught out founders who assumed it was one date to diarise, rather than something tied to their own company and their own role. Here are the questions we are asked most, answered in plain English.
1. What is Companies House identity verification?
It is a new legal requirement for anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a UK company to prove they are who they say they are. It applies to directors, people with significant control (PSCs) and members of limited liability partnerships. The aim is to make the companies register more trustworthy and harder to abuse, by confirming that the people behind a company are real and correctly identified.
You verify either directly with Companies House, using GOV.UK One Login, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (an ACSP), such as an accountant, solicitor or chartered secretary who is supervised for anti money laundering purposes.
2. Is 18 November 2026 a hard deadline for everyone?
No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding we see. GOV.UK is explicit: "From 18 November 2025, identity verification becomes a legal requirement," and "this date is not a deadline." It marks the start of a 12 month transition period, giving companies time to make sure every director and PSC has verified by their own due date.
There is no single calendar date that applies to every director and every PSC. Your date depends on your company's own confirmation statement, or, for some PSCs, your birth month. That means your own date could already have passed, could be in a few weeks, or could be later than November 2026, depending on your circumstances.
3. I am a director, when do I need to verify?
As a director, you need to provide your Companies House personal code as part of your company's next confirmation statement. Companies House has said plainly on its own blog that if you have not verified by the time the confirmation statement is filed, the filing will be rejected.
If you are a director of more than one company, you need to do this separately for each one, and each company's confirmation statement date may fall at a different point in the year. Check the confirmation statement date for each of your companies on the Companies House register, rather than assuming you have until next November.
4. I am a person with significant control (a PSC), when do I need to verify?
If you are a PSC but not a director, your 14 day window is tied to your birth month, not to a confirmation statement. You must provide your personal code within the first 14 days of your birth month. For example, if your date of birth is in January, your window runs from 1 to 14 January.
If you became a PSC on or after 18 November 2025, you can provide your personal code as soon as you are added to the register, or within 14 days of being added.
5. I am both a director and a PSC, which rule applies?
As a PSC, you use the dedicated service for providing identity verification details for a PSC, and your window is 14 days starting the day after your company's confirmation statement date, not your birth month. If the company files its confirmation statement earlier than its due date, your 14 day window does not move.
In practice, if you hold both roles, treat your confirmation statement date as the date that matters, and diarise 14 days on from it.
6. What about a new company I am setting up now?
If you are registering a new company, you will be asked to provide the Companies House personal code for each director as part of the registration filing itself. There is no transition period for new incorporations: it is required up front.
7. How do I actually verify my identity?
There are two routes. You can verify directly with Companies House through GOV.UK One Login, using photo ID such as a passport (with a Post Office or bank or building society route available if you do not have suitable ID). Or you can verify through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, an ACSP, which is an individual or organisation already supervised for anti money laundering purposes, such as an accountant, solicitor or chartered secretary.
Either way, you are given a personal code, an 11 character identifier, which you then use to confirm your identity for each company role you hold.
8. Can my accountant verify my identity for me?
Only if they are registered with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, and have been approved for this specific service. Not every accountant is automatically able to do this, and an ACSP may charge for the service. Ask your accountant directly whether they are a registered ACSP before assuming they can verify you.
9. What happens if I miss my window?
You will be committing an offence, and there will be a range of consequences, including a financial penalty. As a director, your company will not be able to file (including its confirmation statement), and you will not be able to start a new company, until this is put right. As a PSC, Companies House has said a penalty or fine may apply, and that it may in future show a note against your name on the public register.
A small number of situations are not yet fully covered: for example, corporate directors, corporate PSCs and limited partnerships, where Companies House has said it will introduce requirements at a later date. If your structure includes one of these, or an overseas element, treat this as a developing area and check the latest GOV.UK guidance, or ask us, rather than assuming the standard rules apply unchanged.
10. What should I do right now?
Do not wait for a letter. Check the confirmation statement date for every company you are a director of, and check your own PSC entries, directly on the Companies House register. Then verify in good time before that date, using GOV.UK One Login or through an authorised accountant. If you hold more than one role, across more than one company, work through each one separately, since the dates will not all be the same.
What if my situation is a genuine grey area?
Some structures are still being phased in, including corporate directors, corporate PSCs, limited partnerships and certain overseas arrangements. If you are not sure which rules currently apply to you, check your dates on the Companies House register first, and get advice before assuming nothing is required of you yet.
How Kubed Solutions can help
Kubed Solutions is an ICAEW regulated practice that works closely with food, drink, FMCG and ecommerce founders on exactly this kind of company administration, alongside the accounting and tax side of the business. We can check your confirmation statement dates and PSC entries across all of your companies, make sure nothing is missed, and talk you through the right route to verify.
Book a free 30 minute consultation to talk it through.
Official guidance: When you need to verify your identity for Companies House and Verify your identity for Companies House.
This article is general information, not advice for your specific circumstances. Identity verification rules are new and still being phased in, so please check the linked GOV.UK guidance or speak to us before acting.