# Director identity verification deadline: what Companies House requires of directors and PSCs By Rotomal team · Updated 2026-11-03 · Part of [Plain Filings](https://rotomal.com/micro-filing/) **Short answer:** Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition that ends in mid-November 2026. Existing directors give their Companies House personal code with the company's next confirmation statement, and new directors verify before they are appointed. A person with significant control (PSC) who is not a director has the first 14 days of their birth month; a PSC who is also a director has 14 days from the day after the confirmation statement date. Verifying yourself through GOV.UK One Login is free. ## Your deadline depends on your role | Your role | When you must verify | | --- | --- | | Director appointed before 18 November 2025 | Give your personal code as part of the company's next confirmation statement. If you direct several companies, do it for each one, with the same code. | | Director appointed from 18 November 2025 | Verify before you are appointed. A new company gives each director's code in its registration filing. | | PSC who is also a director | Separately, as a PSC, within 14 days starting the day after the company's confirmation statement date. Filing the statement early does not move the dates. | | PSC who is not a director | Within the first 14 days of your birth month as shown on the register: for a 22 January birthday, 1 to 14 January. | | PSC added on or after 18 November 2025 | When you are first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added. | | PSC who has died | No verification needed. | ## Key dates | Date | What happened or happens | | --- | --- | | 18 November 2025 | Identity verification became a legal requirement; the 12-month transition started. | | 16 September 2026 | First convictions for identity verification offences, at City of London Magistrates' Court. | | Mid-November 2026 | End of the 12-month transition. Companies House gives mid-November 2026; Law Debenture gives 17 November. | | No earlier than November 2027 | Verification extended to people who file documents at Companies House, with at least six months' notice. | ## How to verify and get your personal code - Online with GOV.UK One Login, using photo ID such as a biometric passport from any country or a UK photo driving licence. Companies House says this route is free. - If you cannot finish online, you can verify in person at a Post Office after entering your photo ID details, or, if you live in the UK, possibly with your bank or building society details and National Insurance number. - Or ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), such as an accountant, solicitor or formation agent registered with Companies House, to verify you. They may charge for it. - You then get an 11-character personal code. It belongs to you, not the company, and stays the same for every appointment. Sign in to Companies House and open Manage account to see it; verifications since 8 July 2026 also get it by email. - Directors' codes go in with the confirmation statement. PSCs use the Provide identity verification details for a PSC service. ## What happens if you don't verify - Acting as a director without a verified identity is an offence. The company, and other directors who let an unverified director act, can commit an offence too. - Companies House says failing to comply can bring a financial penalty, and that you cannot make filings for your company or start a new company. - In the first cases, on 16 September 2026, three directors were fined between £80 and £307 plus costs. One had verified his own identity but was prosecuted for not taking reasonable steps to stop an unverified co-director from acting. - Companies House has said it may in future show a note against an unverified person's name on the public register. ## How many people have verified Companies House estimated in August 2025 that 6 to 7 million people would need to verify by mid-November 2026. Its own management information, published on 29 October 2026, counts verified appointments (one person with several appointments counts several times): | Appointments | Verified at 30 June 2026 | Verified at 30 September 2026 | | --- | --- | --- | | Directors | 4,710,086 (55%) | 6,590,959 (78%) | | Individual PSCs | 2,571,827 (42%) | 3,995,834 (66%) | | LLP members | 82,686 (49%) | 119,172 (73%) | So at the end of September about one director appointment in five, and one PSC appointment in three, still had to verify, with weeks left in the transition. Companies House's outline transition plan, updated on 23 October 2026, says action against people who have not verified starts no earlier than the end of 2026. ## Checklist for a small company - Look up the company's confirmation statement date on the Companies House register. - Check each director's and PSC's status on the register's People tab, which shows the date verification is due for anyone not yet verified. - Have each person verify through GOV.UK One Login and keep their personal code. - File the confirmation statement with every director's code. - Put each PSC's 14-day window in the diary. If a PSC cannot make it, request the 14-day extension online before the window closes. ## What Plain Filings can and cannot do Plain Filings is not an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, so we cannot verify anyone's identity or submit personal codes for you. Verification is free on GOV.UK One Login, or an ACSP such as your accountant can do it. What we do is keep the confirmation statement date and each PSC window next to your accounts and CT600 deadlines, and remind you before each one. ## FAQ ### Is mid-November 2026 the deadline for everyone? No. A director's deadline is the company's next confirmation statement during the transition, which may already have passed, and each PSC has their own 14-day window. Mid-November 2026 (17 November, according to Law Debenture) is when the 12-month transition itself closes. ### Does identity verification cost anything? Verifying yourself with Companies House through GOV.UK One Login is free. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider may charge for doing it for you. ### I am a director of three companies. Do I verify three times? No. You verify once and get one personal code, which you then give for each company, with each company's confirmation statement. ### Our confirmation statement went in months ago and I never verified. What now? Verify now. Companies House and the Insolvency Service have said directors who have not verified should do so as soon as possible, and acting as a director while unverified is an offence. ### Is this legal advice? No. It summarises Companies House guidance as of 3 November 2026. Check your own dates on the register or with your accountant or solicitor. ## Sources - GOV.UK: When you need to verify your identity for Companies House https://www.gov.uk/guidance/when-you-need-to-verify-your-identity-for-companies-house - Companies House management information: identity verification, July to September 2026 (published 29 October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/companies-house-management-information-identity-verification-july-to-september-2026 - GOV.UK: ECCT Act outline transition plan for Companies House (updated 23 October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-outline-transition-plan-for-companies-house/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-outline-transition-plan-for-companies-house - GOV.UK: Verify your identity for Companies House https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verify-your-identity-for-companies-house - GOV.UK: Companies House personal codes for identity verification https://www.gov.uk/guidance/companies-house-personal-codes-for-identity-verification - Changes to UK company law: identity verification https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/identity-verification/ - GOV.UK: Companies House confirms identity verification rollout from 18 November 2025 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/companies-house-confirms-identity-verification-rollout-from-18-november-2025 - Companies House blog: understanding identity verification for PSCs https://companieshouse.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/16/understanding-identity-verification-for-people-with-significant-control-pscs/ - GOV.UK: Directors warned to verify identities following first Insolvency Service prosecutions https://www.gov.uk/government/news/directors-warned-to-verify-identities-with-companies-house-following-first-insolvency-service-prosecutions - legislation.gov.uk: Companies Act 2006, section 167M (offences by the director, the company and officers in default) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/167M - Law Debenture: millions of directors still unverified (verification figures, 17 November close) https://www.lawdebenture.com/news-insights/millions-of-directors-still-unverified-the-17-november-deadline-is-closer-than-it-looks [Plain Filings](https://rotomal.com/micro-filing/) does this for you. Request it free, no card: https://rotomal.com/micro-filing/request/ --- Rotomal · https://rotomal.com/micro-filing/companies-house-identity-verification-deadline/ · hello@rotomal.com