If you are a director or a person with significant control (PSC) of a UK limited company, you must verify your identity with Companies House. The rule started on 18 November 2025 and gives existing officeholders until about mid-November 2026. Sole traders who are not on the register do not need to do anything.
Why Companies House now checks who you are
Companies House now asks every director and PSC to prove who they are, because the register used to accept a name with no proof that a real person stood behind it. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 changed that, and identity verification is the main change under the new law. The aim is to make shell companies harder to hide behind.
The scale is large. Companies House estimates that 6 to 7 million individuals will need to verify by mid-November 2026. If you run even a one-person Ltd, you are one of them.
The check is a one-off for most people. You prove your identity once, get a personal code, and reuse it for every role you hold. The trouble starts when people assume their accountant has quietly handled it, and then reach the next confirmation statement with no code to file.
The timeline so far
The rollout runs in phases, and where you sit in it tells you how urgent this is.
8 April 2025: voluntary verification opened to anyone on the register.
18 November 2025: verification became compulsory for new directors, new PSCs and new incorporations. The 12-month transition for existing officeholders started the same day.
Up to mid-November 2026: existing directors and PSCs verify, usually triggered by their company's next confirmation statement.
After that: the requirement is planned to extend to agents who file on behalf of companies.
New companies and new appointments are already fully covered. If you have owned your Ltd for a while, your personal deadline is tied to your next confirmation statement, which for most companies falls well before the November backstop.
Written by
The Delivvo team
Delivvo runs the client cycle for service businesses: inquiry, quote, contract, deposit and delivery. Payments go straight to your own account.
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Everyone with a named role on the register has to verify. The Companies House guidance covers directors, PSCs, members of limited liability partnerships and directors of overseas companies with a UK establishment.
A sole trader working in their own name is not on the register, so there is nothing to verify. That changes the day you incorporate. When you set up a Ltd, you become a director and must verify before the company can exist.
One practical point for small teams: a company with two directors and one extra shareholder with significant control has three people who each need their own code. Nobody can verify on another person's behalf unless they are a registered agent.
Person verifying documents alone on a laptop in a calm home office
The two ways to verify
You can verify for free through GOV.UK One Login, or pay an agent to do it.
The free route starts with a One Login account. You confirm your identity with the GOV.UK app and a photo ID such as a passport, by answering security questions online, or in person at a participating Post Office. When you pass, you get a Companies House personal code. The code belongs to you, not to your company, and it works for every directorship or PSC role you hold.
The paid route is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP): an accountant, solicitor or formation agent that is registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money-laundering. Companies House says a third-party provider may charge a fee. If your accountant already files for you, this can save you a step.
Either way, keep the code somewhere safe. Treat it like a login: it is what your accountant will ask for at filing time.
The deadlines that apply to your role
The date that matters depends on what you are on the register as.
New director or new company: verify before the appointment is filed or the company is incorporated.
Existing director: provide your personal code with your company's next confirmation statement filed on or after 18 November 2025.
PSC who is also a director: your 14-day window starts the day after your company's confirmation statement date.
PSC who is not a director: verify within the first 14 days of your birth month.
New PSC: verify within 14 days of being added to the register or of the date on the direction letter you receive.
A confirmation statement is annual, so most existing officeholders hit their trigger inside the transition year. Do not wait for a reminder to arrive.
Focused person at a desk taking notes before completing an online form
For a small business that second part hurts more than the fine. A blocked confirmation statement can hold up a bank application, a loan or a new client's supplier check. Banks and larger clients often look at the register before they sign anything.
If you hold a PSC role, you can ask for a 14-day extension, but only before your window closes. After that it is too late.
None of this is tax or legal advice. If your company structure is unusual (overseas directors, a corporate PSC, several roles), check it with your accountant or lawyer before you file.
How Delivvo keeps the paperwork around your company in one place
Identity verification is a government job, and Delivvo does not do it for you. What Delivvo does is take the client side of running a Ltd off your plate, so the admin you cannot avoid stays small.
Here is the flow for a one-person UK company.
A prospect fills in your inquiry form at delivvo.io/f/yourname, and the lead lands on your lead board with the details they typed.
You build a quote from your packages and add-ons in Proposals. On Pro, the client picks, signs and pays the deposit from one page, and Delivvo creates the client, project, contract, invoice and payment schedule for you.
The contract is signed by typed or drawn signature. The signing record keeps a SHA-256 hash, the IP address, the device and an archived PDF, so you can show later who agreed to what.
Your invoice goes out with a sequential number in your own format. Clients pay through your own gateway, such as Stripe or PayPal, and Delivvo takes 0% of the payment. It is never the merchant of record.
Every quote, contract, invoice and receipt carries a verification code. Anyone can enter it on the verify page and see the issuer, document type, number, dates, amount and status.
That last detail matters for a company that has just been through an identity check. A client or bank asking "is this invoice really yours?" gets an answer without emailing you. Your accountant also gets a clean, numbered record at year end instead of a pile of PDFs in a mail folder.
The Free plan costs $0 with no card, covers 3 clients and 3 active projects, and lets you try the flow before you move the rest of your work in. See the details on the invoices and tax page and the verification page.
FAQ
I am a freelancer with no limited company. Do I need to verify?
No. The rule applies to people on the Companies House register, such as directors, PSCs and LLP members. A sole trader working in their own name is not on it. If you incorporate later, you must verify before the company can be set up.
How long does verifying with GOV.UK One Login take?
Companies House describes it as a process that can be done in a few minutes for most people. Using the app with a valid passport is usually quickest. Online security questions or a Post Office visit can take longer, so do it before the week your confirmation statement is due.
What is a Companies House personal code?
It is a unique code tied to you, not to your company. You get it once you have verified, and you reuse it for every director or PSC role. You provide it when you file a confirmation statement and when you are appointed to a new role.
Can my accountant verify me?
Only if they are registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, and they may charge for it. The free alternative is to verify yourself through One Login and give them your personal code for their filings.
Delivvo runs the whole client cycle for service businesses, from the first inquiry to the quote, contract, deposit, invoice and delivery, so the admin around your limited company stays small and every document can be checked. Clients pay you directly through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0%. Start free
