Companies House Identity Verification: What Happens If You Do Not Verify?

Why does Companies House require identity verification?

Companies House introduced identity verification as part of changes designed to improve the accuracy and trustworthiness of the companies register and reduce the risk of companies being used for illegal purposes.

Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025 for relevant individuals, with different deadlines depending on the person's role and circumstances.

You may need to verify your identity if you are:

• a company director
• the equivalent of a director, including certain members, general partners and managing officers
• a director of an overseas company registered in the UK
• a person with significant control (PSC)
• an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

Companies House plans to introduce identity verification requirements for some additional roles at a later date.

What happens when you verify your identity?

Once your identity has been successfully verified, you receive a unique Companies House personal code.

This is an 11-character code that belongs to you as an individual, rather than to a particular company.

Depending on your role, you may need your personal code when you:

• file a company's confirmation statement
• are appointed as a director
• incorporate a new company
• provide your verification details as a PSC

If you are involved with more than one company, you generally use the same personal code because it is connected to your identity rather than to one particular business.

What happens if you do not verify your identity?

Not completing the required identity verification is not simply an administrative issue.

Companies House states that if you do not comply with all identity verification requirements on time, you may be committing an offence. You may face prosecution and a fine through the courts, or a financial penalty.

The precise consequences depend on your role and circumstances.

You may be unable to act as a director lawfully

Companies House states that it is unlawful for a director to continue acting as a director without completing the required identity verification.

The company may also be breaking the law if one of its directors has not complied with the requirements.

Your company may be unable to file its confirmation statement

Directors receive a personal code when they successfully verify.

For existing directors, these codes need to be provided as part of the company's confirmation statement process. Companies House states that a company will be unable to file its confirmation statement unless all its directors are verified.

This is one reason not to leave identity verification until your company's next filing deadline.

You may be unable to become a director of another company

Companies House states that people who do not comply with the identity verification requirements will be unable to be appointed as a new director of an existing company.

You may be unable to register a new company

Failure to comply can also prevent you from registering a new company or entity.

This means identity verification can remain relevant even if a company you were previously involved with has stopped trading or has been dissolved.

Your Companies House personal code is personal to you rather than belonging to one particular company.

PSCs also need to comply

People with significant control have their own requirements for providing their personal code to Companies House.

For existing PSCs, the relevant deadline depends on their circumstances, including whether they are also a director. New PSCs can provide their personal code when first added to the register or within 14 days of being added.

Companies House warns that a PSC who continues in that role after their deadline without complying with the identity verification requirements may be committing an offence.

Companies House can take enforcement action

Companies House has published a specific approach to non-compliance with mandatory identity verification.

Depending on the circumstances, failure to comply may lead to financial penalties or prosecution. Companies House has also established a process for people who receive a default letter concerning an overdue identity-verification-related filing, including a procedure for making representations where there are exceptional circumstances.

Companies House also says that, in the future, it will publish a note against the name of a person who has not complied with the identity verification requirements on the public register.

How can I verify my identity for Companies House?

There are two main routes.

You can verify directly through the Companies House service using Welcome to GOV.UK One Login, or you can ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify you.

Companies House confirms both routes in its official guidance.

Option 1: Verify directly with Companies House

Companies House provides a free identity verification service using Welcome to GOV.UK One Login.

Depending on your circumstances, Welcome to GOV.UK One Login may ask you to verify using an app, security questions or your photo ID followed by a visit to a participating Post Office.

Option 2: Verify through Online Filings

Companies House also allows an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify your identity on its behalf.

An ACSP is an authorised agent registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money laundering purposes.

Online Filings can complete the Companies House identity verification process with you as an ACSP.

How Online Filings verifies your identity

If you choose Online Filings, we'll guide you through the information and evidence required to complete your verification.

Companies House requires an ACSP carrying out a verification to collect information including your full name, home address and email address, as well as appropriate evidence to prove your identity.

Step 1: Provide your proof of identity

You'll be guided through our identity verification process and asked to provide the required evidence of your identity.

Step 2: Provide your residential address and supporting evidence

As part of an ACSP verification, Companies House requires the ACSP to obtain your home address. Depending on the verification route and evidence required, Online Filings may also ask you to provide appropriate supporting documentation.

Step 3: Online Filings completes the verification

Once the required checks have been successfully completed, Online Filings can tell Companies House that your identity has been verified.

Companies House will then send your personal code to the email address provided during the ACSP verification.

If you use your personal code to connect your verified identity to the Companies House records, the public register can display a verification statement including the date you were verified and the name of the ACSP that verified you.

Online Filings has asked me for a new proof of address. Do I still need to provide it?

If Online Filings has contacted you specifically because there is an issue with the proof of address associated with a verification we previously carried out, please do not ignore the request.

This is different from being asked to start a completely new Companies House identity verification.

Online Filings may have already carried out your verification as an ACSP, but subsequently identified during a compliance review that the proof of address previously accepted does not meet the required criteria.

In that situation, we may ask you to provide an acceptable replacement document so that we can correct the records and evidence relating to the verification we carried out.

If you have received one of these requests from Online Filings, please follow the instructions in the email or sign in to your Online Filings account rather than completing another identity verification unnecessarily.

Companies House itself advises that, in most cases, you only need to verify your identity once and should not verify again unless Companies House tells you to.

My company has been dissolved. Does identity verification still matter?

A dissolved company does not automatically make identity verification irrelevant to you personally.

Your Companies House personal code belongs to you, not to your company.

For example, if you later incorporate another company or are appointed as a director, Companies House requires verification as part of those processes.

If Online Filings has separately contacted you about correcting evidence associated with a verification it previously carried out, dissolution of the original company does not by itself correct that historical verification record.

Already verified by Online Filings?

You can see who verified you on the Companies House register once your verified identity has been connected to the relevant Companies House record.

Where an ACSP carried out the verification, Companies House says the public verification statement can include the name of the ACSP that verified you.

If your Companies House record shows that you were verified by Online Filings and we have contacted you about an issue with the evidence associated with that verification, please follow the instructions we have sent you so that the outstanding issue can be resolved.

Do not leave your Companies House identity verification unresolved

Identity verification is now part of the legal framework for running and controlling UK companies.

Depending on your role and deadline, failing to comply can prevent certain company actions and may result in financial penalties or prosecution.

If you still need to verify, Online Filings is an Authorised ACSP and can complete this verification.

If Online Filings has already verified you but has contacted you because your proof of address needs to be corrected, you should instead follow the instructions we sent you:

This article reflects Companies House guidance available on 5 October 2026. Requirements and deadlines can depend on your individual role and circumstances. For the latest official information, refer to Companies House guidance on Welcome to GOV.UK.