Using an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify your identity
How to find an ACSP, what an ACSP needs to verify your identity for Companies House, and what happens after an ACSP verifies your identity.
If you need to verify your identity for Companies House, you can ask an ACSP to do this on your behalf.
An ACSP is an agent, such as an accountant or solicitor, who files on behalf of others. To register as an ACSP with Companies House, they must be supervised for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) purposes.
How to find an ACSP
If you have an existing accountant or solicitor (or any other AML-supervised professional), you can ask them if they are registered with Companies House as an ACSP.
You can also check our public list of ACSPs. The agents on this list have requested to have their details published, so it may not include all ACSPs.
When choosing an agent, we recommend that you find out about their reputation and experience. This will help you choose an agent that can provide the services you need.
What happens when an ACSP verifies your identity
You’ll need to give your ACSP:
- your full name
- your home address
- your email address - we’ll use this to send information about your verification
- evidence to prove your identity – your ACSP will tell you what evidence you can use
After an ACSP verifies your identity
We’ll send your personal code to the email address you give your ACSP. Make sure it’s correct and you can access emails sent to the address.
You should receive the email within a few hours. You may need to check your spam or junk folder.
If you use your personal code to connect your verified identity to our records, we’ll show a verification statement on the public register.
The statement will include:
- your name
- the date your identity was verified
- the name of the ACSP that verified your identity
- the names of the AML supervisory bodies the ACSP is registered with
If you do not receive an email with your personal code
You should contact the ACSP who verified you and check what email address they provided. If they provided an incorrect email address, they’ll need to correct your details.
If the email address is correct, contact us and ask for the ACSP team. We can resend the email with your personal code.
How to keep your email address up to date
We may need to send you important updates after you’ve verified your identity. You should tell us if your email address changes.
If you sign in to or create a Companies House account after you receive your personal code, you’ll be able to:
- update your email address when you need to
- view your personal code in your account
We’ll include instructions on how to do this when we email your personal code.