Companies House ID Verification: The 18 November 2026 Deadline Directors Shouldn't Miss

If you're a director or a person with significant control (PSC) of a UK limited company, you now have a personal legal duty to verify your identity with Companies House — and the transition window for doing so closes on 18 November 2026. With that date now under three months away, this is a good moment to check where you and your company stand.

What's actually changing

Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, as part of the wider reforms introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Companies House gave everyone a 12-month transition period to comply, rather than requiring it overnight. That transition period ends on 18 November 2026.

In practice, this means every director and every PSC needs to prove who they are to Companies House, once, and receive a Companies House personal code that gets used in filings from then on.

Who this applies to

The requirement covers:

• All company directors — new appointments and existing directors alike

• People with significant control (PSCs) — typically anyone owning more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or who otherwise controls the company

• LLP members

Anyone newly incorporating a company, or being newly appointed as a director or PSC, already has to verify at the point of appointment. It's existing directors and PSCs — people who were already in post before the rules changed — who have until 18 November 2026 to get it done, generally by the time they next file their confirmation statement.

How to verify

There are two routes, and both are free:

• Directly with Companies House, using GOV.UK One Login and a passport or driving licence, done online in a few minutes.

• Through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — a solicitor, chartered accountant or formation agent who is authorised to verify identity on your behalf. Jackson Lee Accountants can do this for clients as part of preparing confirmation statements, which is often the more convenient route if you'd rather not deal with GOV.UK One Login directly, or if your ID documents make the online route awkward.

Once verified, you're given a personal code. That code then needs to be included against your name whenever the company files its confirmation statement, so it's worth verifying well before that filing is due rather than leaving it to the deadline itself.

What happens if you don't verify in time

Companies House has been clear that this isn't a box-ticking exercise with no teeth. Directors and PSCs who haven't verified by the time it's required face a criminal offence and a financial penalty, and — practically more disruptive for most small businesses — the company won't be able to file its confirmation statement, accounts, or other documents until verification is sorted. New companies can't be incorporated with unverified directors either. For a business that needs to keep its filings up to date to maintain good standing with lenders, landlords or clients, that's a real headache to avoid.

What to do now

A few practical steps worth taking before November:

• Check whether you, and any co-directors or PSCs, have already verified — if you've done it once, you don't need to repeat it, just remember your personal code.

• If your company's confirmation statement is due in the next couple of months, get verification done well ahead of that filing rather than at the last minute.

• Make sure your registered office address doesn't rely on a PO Box, and that Companies House holds a current registered email address for the company — both are now required as part of the same set of reforms.

This is one of those administrative changes that's easy to put off until it's urgent. If you'd like Jackson Lee Accountants to handle the verification for you and your fellow directors as part of your next confirmation statement, or if you're simply not sure whether you've already completed it, get in touch and we'll sort it out with you.