One million people verify identity early ahead of Companies House changes
Making the register a more trusted and transparent source of information supports a fairer and safer business environment.
From 18 November 2025, all new and existing company directors and people with significant control (PSC) will need to verify their identity with Companies House. This will provide more assurance about who is setting up, running, owning and controlling companies in the UK.
Making information on the company register more reliable is good news for business, users of the register and efforts to tackle economic crime.
We’ve designed our identity verification processes to be simple, secure and robust.
More than 1 million individuals have already verified their identity since we rolled out our identity verification service on a voluntary basis in April.
Companies House chief executive, Andy King said:
One million identities verified is an important milestone, but it’s only the beginning.
Identity verification will help make sure that the people setting up, running and controlling companies are who they say they are. This will make our data more reliable and less open to misuse, supporting a more transparent and trusted business environment.
There are 2 ways for individuals to verify their identity:
- directly with Companies House through GOV.UK One Login
- through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)
The identity verification process can usually be completed in minutes. Verified individuals receive a personal code through the service.
From 18 November 2025, directors and PSCs will need to provide their personal code and a verification statement for each company role they hold.
The specific date for each director or PSC varies, so we are contacting companies directly with this information.
From 18 November, directors and PSCs will also be able to check the Companies House register to see identity verification due dates for all their roles.
Read more about verifying your identity for Companies House.
Read more about Companies House reforms and our identification verification rollout.