Why it is important to complete your ID-Verification sooner rather than later

After the 18 November 2025, part of the process for filing your company's confirmation statement with Companies House will involve providing your Companies House Personal Code for all the registered directors and persons with significant control (PSC) listed for that company. Discovering you do not have the required codes may delay your ability to complete the confirmation statement beyond the filing deadline date, which may result in you suffering late-filing penalties, and ultimately the company being struck-off the register for continued non-compliance.

Although Companies House has indicated it will not prosecute individual defaulters in the first year of compliance ending 18 November 2026, it is worth remembering it is a now a criminal offence to remain registered as a director or a person with significant control and not to have completed the ID-verfication process.

Companies House provides a free online service to obtain your Companies House Personal Code. Your can read their latest top tips here. Many people have successfully used this system to obtain their Companies House Personal Code. Unfortunately for some people, the free service does not work for them, and once it has failed they will be advised by Companies House to complete the identification in person at a Post Office, or as a last resort use the paid services of an ACSP.

As a registered ACSP we can arrange a face-to-face meeting with you to review your evidence you present us to confirm your ID. For further information about this service, see below.

To avoid late-filing penalties, it makes sense to ensure you have obtained all the Companies House Personal Codes for your company's listed directors and persons with significant control well ahead of the 14-day filing window available for you to file your next confirmation statement.

What is involved in completing the free Companies House online ID-verification process, and what you will need to hand

We have found one can complete the online Companies House ID-verification process in under 30-minutes if all goes to plan. The step-by-step instructions are clear and easy to follow. Unlike many similar online processes, we have so far never encountered an obvious timing-out issue.

To successfully complete the online process, you will need:

• To have created a personal Gov.DOT One Login account
• A current biometric passport - One that displays the small rectangular symbol at the bottom of the front cover (see image above).
• A UK photo driving license - disclosing your current address.
• The date you moved into your current address.
• A personal email that can only be used once to verify an identity.
• A smart phone with Internet access.
• The confidence to trust the software to guide you through the process, which it does with impressive clarity and efficiency.

The last web page you will view of a successful ID-verification application will publish your unique 11-character Companies House Personal Code. Although you should receive an email from Companies House confirming your new code, we recommend you take care to make a record of the Companies House Personal Code displayed on the screen before closing the web page. You should only disclose it to people you know you can trust.

When will you need to use your personal Companies House Personal Code?

One might expect that having used a dedicated Companies House system to obtain your Companies House Personal Code, the same system would automatically update your company's or companies' records with the ID-code, and that would be the end of the matter. Unfortunately … no such luck! Companies House explains here when you are required to sign into your online Companies House accounts to enter your Companies House Personal Code . Although an individual can use the same single ID-verification code, they are required to update each company they hold the office of a director, or are a person with significant control, at different times in the coming year, using two different systems to fulfill their legal obligations.

Directors: Updating their ID-verification details

Directors are required to update their ID-verifications details when their company files their next confirmation statement after November 2025. As there are financial penalties for late filing of your annual confirmation statement within the specified 14-day window, it is important to understand you will be unable to complete the submission if you have inaccurate or missing ID-verification details.

Step-by-step Guide: To facilitate the entry of director's ID verification details, we have recorded the new screens you must navigate to successfully complete the online confirmation statement submission. The process is well sign-posted and straightforward. So, even individuals who find completing official online forms a nightmare, should sail through and successfully file their confirmation statement without experiencing a problem. It is worth mentioning that completing a confirmation statement only affords the user the opportunity to update a director's ID-verification details. If they also happen to be a person with significant control, a different online system must be used to update ID-verification details. (See next section).

PSC (Persons with significant Control): Updating their ID-verification details

Companies House has been sending out emails advising companies of the 14-day window when they must sign into their online company accounts to enter the ID-verfication details for their PSCs. Alternatively, you can always log-in to the Companies House Register to find out the relevant filing dates for each PSC. The following official guidance explains more about the process.

Step-by-step guide: We have recorded the process you must follow to update your PSC ID-verification details using the new online Companies House system. Again, we found the process well sign-posted and straightforward, taking only 5-minutes to complete. We subsequently received an email from Companies House to confirm they had accepted the submission 10-minutes later. We accessed our company's online account about an hour after the submission to discover that the Register's records had also been updated. The requirement that individual PSCs may have different date-windows in which their ID-verification details can be updated is frustrating, but that is what is required. We recommend you set up reminders in any task or diary systems you may use to remind you when to return again to complete the update service. Companies House have stated they will not prosecute late filings in the first year of operation, but why take the risk.

What happens if you find the free online ID-verification process fails?

Many people sail through the online ID-verification process without an issue. Unfortunately, judging by the number of people who have contacted us, far too many people find they are unable to complete the online verification process. Although it is not clear why, it seems an individual only gets one attempt to complete the online ID-verification process online. If it fails, it appears you must use another method of confirming your ID.

Many people who suffer the misfortune to find the free online system lets them down, report they have wasted hours waiting on official help and support telephone calls only to be told their only option is too contact an ACSP like MAAP to complete the process. This should not be the only default option available, but if your ID-verfication attempt online goes wrong, it seems you currently have no choice but to seek the help of an ACSP.

MAAP Accountants and our role as an ACSP

MAAP Accountants is a registered Authorised Corporate Services Provider (ACSP). We are also supervised by the AAT for compliance with the anti-money laundering regulations. Our role as a practicing accountant requires us to take all reasonable steps to verify the identity of our clients by asking them to provide documentary proof of identity. We can also carry out personal biometric ID-checks through are chosen agents, Firmcheck.

Firstly, we are surprised at the number of people who have contacted us for assistance in completing their ID-verification when their own accountants have declined to help them. Whatever conclusions one can draw from this bizarre situation, it also serves to highlight the risks involved in completing an ID-Verification as an ACSP. In short, if we at MAAP fail to observe the high standards expected by Companies House to complete the ID-verification process, we will lose our ACSP status. That would end our ability to trade forward as a viable firm of reporting accountants.

The high stakes involved will understandably mean we will exercise considerable care in who we agree to verify for Companies House. We will only undertake what we refer to as a manual ID-verification exercise for people if:

• We can organise a mutually convenient face-to-face interview at their residential address listed on the documents they will provide as proof of ID.
• They can produce a current UK or EU passport.
• They can produce a current UK photo driving license listing the residential address we are attending.
• They can produce one of the accepted utility bills or domestic rates demand letters stating the relevant name and address.

We also understand why some people may not feel confident to attempt the free online ID-verification exercise. We have now done it many times, and we will be pleased to assist them in this process. They can either attend our office, or we can attend their home, which has the added benefit of allowing us to complete a manual ID-verification if the free online service fails.

Once we return to the office we complete a simple ACSP report that normally results in Companies House emailing the individual with their Companies House Personal Code within a matter of a few hours.

Our Fees

We offer this service as a loss-leader because we have seen the frustration and distress the ID-verification process has caused so many people who are disappointed with their existing accountants who decline to provide ID-verification services themselves. Our fees start at £100 plus our travel fees at 45ppm. Naturally, the costs of attendance effectively limits the viability of providing this service to the region surrounding Poole, Bournemouth, and the New Forest. We will travel further afield if required, but we would recommend seeking the services of an ACSP nearer to you to save the additional fees involved. We normally spend about an hour on site collecting the evidence we need to complete the ID-verification process.

For those who question the value of ID-verification

Although we share some of the data-security concerns about mandated personal ID-verifications, we have seen the irreversible damage to credit ratings and business reputations caused by corporate ID-theft. For these reasons alone, we believe Companies House ID-verfication is a sensible step to take to help eliminate fraud and reduce the opportunity for criminals to launder the proceeds of crime through legitimate business facades. Regardless of your personal opinions on the rights and wrongs of ID-verification, the system is now operating. Failure to obtain your Companies House Personal Code well before you need to use it to file your company's annual confirmation statement is likely to result in your finding you cannot file your confirmation statement on time. Although Companies House have indicated they will not prosecute individuals for non-compliance until after November 2026, the penalties for failing to complete a company's confirmation statement on time stand, and are explained here.