UK Companies House Identity Verification: ECCTA Deadlines Every Director and PSC Must Know

Six to seven million people in the UK are legally required to prove who they are to a government register — not once, but as an ongoing condition of running or controlling a company. If you're a director or a "person with significant control" (PSC) of a UK limited company, that requirement already applies to you, whether or not you've heard about it yet.

Since November 18, 2025, Companies House has required identity verification (ID) for company directors, PSCs, and the accountants and formation agents who file on their behalf. It's the biggest operational change to UK company law in a generation, and unlike most compliance deadlines, missing this one isn't just a late-filing fee — it's a criminal offence.

Here's what changed, who it affects, and exactly how to get verified before the transition window closes.

Why This Exists: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act​

For as long as Companies House has existed, anyone could register a UK company with almost no proof of identity. You could type any name into the online form, click submit, and become a director of record — no passport check, no address verification, nothing stopping you from using a fake identity or someone else's name without consent.

That gap made UK companies an attractive vehicle for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and fraud. Investigative journalists and anti-corruption groups spent years documenting cases of UK shell companies tied to organized crime, all registered with invented directors that Companies House had no power to challenge.

Parliament's answer was the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which gave Companies House new powers to query, reject, and remove suspicious filings — and, critically, to require that every director and PSC prove they're a real person who is who they claim to be. Identity verification is the first major piece of ECCTA to take effect, and more powers (including stronger financial statement filing requirements) are rolling out over the next few years.

Who Has to Verify​

Three groups fall under the identity verification requirement:

• Company directors (or the equivalent role in other entity types Companies House registers, like LLP members)
• People with significant control (PSCs) — generally anyone who owns more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises significant influence over it
• Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) — accountants, solicitors, and company formation agents who verify identities on behalf of clients and file on the public register

If you're both a director and the sole PSC of your own limited company, as many freelancers and small business owners running a UK Ltd are, you only need to verify once — but you need to do it under the correct role and within its specific deadline.

The Deadlines: Three Different Clocks​

This is where most business owners get tripped up — there isn't one deadline, there are three, depending on your situation.

New companies and new appointments (already in effect)​

Since November 18, 2025, anyone registering a new UK company, or being newly appointed as a director, must complete identity verification before the incorporation or appointment is accepted. There's no grace period for new entrants — verify first, then file.

Existing PSCs who aren't also directors​

If you're a PSC but not a director of the same company, you must verify your identity within a window tied to your birth month — specifically, by the 14th of the month in which you were born, sometime during the 12-month transition period.

Existing directors​

If you were already a director before November 18, 2025, you need to verify by the time your company files its next confirmation statement after that date. Every UK company files a confirmation statement annually, so this effectively spreads existing directors' deadlines across the whole transition window. The hard backstop for every existing director, regardless of confirmation-statement timing, is November 18, 2026.

If your company's confirmation statement is due early in the transition window — say, January 2026 — your effective deadline is much sooner than the November 2026 backstop. Check your company's confirmation statement due date on the Companies House register now, not later.

How to Verify: Three Methods​

Companies House built identity verification around GOV.UK One Login, the same identity service used across other government digital services. You have three ways to complete it:

1. GOV.UK One Login, online — the fastest route. Upload a biometric passport (any nationality), a UK photo driving licence, a UK biometric residence permit, or a UK frontier worker permit through the GOV.UK ID Check app, plus your current address. Most people complete this in under 15 minutes.
2. Post Office, in person — if you can't or don't want to use the app, you can complete "in-branch verification" at a participating Post Office after starting the process online.
3. Through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — your accountant, solicitor, or company formation agent, if they're registered as an ACSP with Companies House, can verify your identity on your behalf as part of their existing services.

Once verified, you'll receive a personal verification code you'll use whenever you're named as a director or PSC on a Companies House filing — including your next confirmation statement.

What Happens If You Don't Verify​

Companies House has been explicit that this is not a soft requirement. Failing to complete identity verification by your deadline is a criminal offence, and the practical consequences stack up quickly:

• Individual fines ranging from roughly £250 to £2,000 for the initial offence
• Escalating penalties up to £5,000 for continued non-compliance
• Filing lockout — you won't be able to file a confirmation statement, annual accounts, or register a new company until you're verified
• Director disqualification in more serious or persistent cases
• Companies House striking the company off the register, which can trigger asset dissolution and personal liability exposure for directors

Companies House has said it expects to begin active compliance and enforcement activity by the end of 2026, once the transition period closes. Given that filing lockout alone can cascade into missed accounts deadlines and automatic penalties, there's real downside to waiting until the last minute even before enforcement formally begins.

A Practical Checklist​

If you run or control a UK limited company, work through this now rather than waiting for a reminder email:

1. Check your role. Are you a director, a PSC, or both, for each UK company you're involved with? Search the Companies House register to confirm.
2. Find your deadline. New appointment: verify now. Existing director: check your company's next confirmation statement date. Existing PSC-only: mark your birth-month deadline.
3. Gather your ID. A biometric passport or UK driving licence, plus proof of current address, covers most people.
4. Verify through GOV.UK One Login if you're comfortable with the app — it's the fastest option and avoids relying on a third party's ACSP registration status.
5. Confirm with your accountant whether they're an ACSP and can verify on your behalf as part of your existing filing relationship, if you'd rather not do it yourself.
6. Repeat for every company where you hold a director or PSC role — verification is per-person, not automatically shared across multiple companies you're involved with, though once you're verified once you don't need to re-verify identity documents for each additional company.

Common Questions From Overseas and Multi-Company Directors​

I don't live in the UK. Does this still apply to me? Yes. Identity verification is tied to your role as a director or PSC of a UK-registered company, not your residency or nationality. Non-UK directors are common for companies incorporated by international founders, remote-first startups, or freelancers using a UK Ltd as a contracting vehicle — none of that changes the requirement. You can still verify using a biometric passport from any country through GOV.UK One Login; you don't need a UK-issued document.

What if I can't get a UK Post Office in-person appointment or my passport isn't biometric? If GOV.UK One Login can't verify you from your documents alone, the fallback is answering identity questions based on UK financial history (like a mobile contract, bank account, or credit history). If none of those routes work for you — a real risk for some overseas directors with no UK financial footprint — an ACSP-registered accountant or solicitor can verify your identity in person or through their own compliance process, which is often the most practical route for non-UK residents.

I'm a director of several UK companies. Do I verify separately for each one? No. Identity verification is tied to you as an individual, not to each company. Once you've verified through GOV.UK One Login, your personal verification code carries across every company where you're named as a director or PSC. You'll still need to submit that code on each company's filings, but you won't repeat the document-upload process.

Does this apply to sole traders or general partnerships? No. Identity verification under ECCTA applies specifically to entities Companies House registers — limited companies, LLPs, and similar structures. Sole traders and unincorporated partnerships aren't on the Companies House register, so they fall outside this requirement (though they have their own separate obligations with HMRC).

Why This Matters Beyond the Deadline​

ECCTA's identity verification push is part of a broader global shift toward transparent, auditable business ownership — the UK's beneficial-ownership rules sit alongside similar (if differently structured) requirements in other jurisdictions. The underlying principle is the same everywhere: regulators increasingly expect a business's records — who owns it, who controls it, and how its money moves — to be clear, current, and provable on demand.

That expectation doesn't stop at your Companies House filing. Clean, auditable financial records make every other compliance touchpoint easier, from the annual accounts your ACSP-verified accountant files to due diligence during a funding round or acquisition. A business whose books are a black box invites the same kind of scrutiny ECCTA was designed to eliminate at the ownership level.

Keep Your Financial Records as Transparent as Your Ownership​

As UK company law moves toward provable identity and clearer ownership records, it's worth asking whether your bookkeeping meets the same bar. Beancount.io offers plain-text accounting that's transparent, version-controlled, and easy to audit — no black-box ledgers, no vendor lock-in, and a full history you (or your accountant) can inspect line by line. Get started for free and see why developers and finance-savvy founders are switching to plain-text accounting. Explore the documentation to see how it fits into your existing workflow.