Companies House ID Checks: A Step-by-Step Overview for UK Companies

Britain’s corporate register contained over 4.5 million active companies in 2024, yet until recently, anyone could appoint a director using nothing more than a name and date of birth. Fraudsters exploited this weakness for decades, creating shell companies with fictitious directors to launder money, evade sanctions, and commit fraud. That era ended in November 2025 when Companies House ID checks became mandatory for every director, person with significant control, and authorized filer.

This verification requirement, mandated by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, overhauled UK corporate registration by replacing passive filing with active identity gatekeeping. The system went live on 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition period giving existing directors until November 2026 to verify.

For compliance teams managing onboarding, Companies House ID checks are no longer optional. You cannot register a director without proving who they are. This guide provides exact steps your clients need, what documents to gather, how to handle verification failures, and which technology platforms enable efficient compliance at scale.

Step 1: Identify Which Individuals Must Verify Their Identity

Map precisely which individuals require Companies House ID checks. The requirement catches more people than most compliance teams assume, affecting both UK residents and overseas directors.

Every company director must verify, including non-executives, shadow directors, and corporate representatives. People with significant control holding over 25% of shares or voting rights must verify, including indirect control through nominee arrangements, trust structures, or partnership holdings. Anyone filing documents on behalf of companies needs verification before they can submit. This affects company secretaries, compliance officers, and administrative personnel. Without verification, their submissions will be rejected at the point of filing.

Limited liability partnership members and Scottish limited partnership partners face identical requirements. The obligation applies regardless of residence. A director based in Singapore or Dubai must verify through the same process as a UK resident, though they may need to use the agent-assisted route if they lack UK-acceptable photo ID.

Create a verification status spreadsheet showing every individual requiring verification, their role, current residence, and deadline for compliance. For groups with directors across multiple jurisdictions, this tracking prevents filing blockages when documents require Personal Codes from individuals in different time zones.

Step 2: Gather Documents and Choose Your Verification Route

Three Companies House ID checks routes exist, each with different cost structures and suitability for different circumstances. Most individuals use digital verification through GOV.UK One Login, which is completely free.

Direct individuals to account.company-information.service.gov.uk. They need an email and one identity document: a current passport (UK or international), UK photocard driving licence, or certain EEA identity cards. The document must be valid and unexpired. International passports from over 195 countries are accepted.

Ensure they have good lighting and a working camera. The system requires them to photograph their identity document and take a selfie for facial matching. Poor lighting, blurred images, or obscured document features cause verification failures. Have them find a plain background and ensure the entire document is visible in frame without glare or shadows.

The agent-assisted route suits those lacking digital documents or struggling with technology. Find a professional with AML supervision (solicitor, accountant) registered with HMRC or the Law Society. The agent conducts their own identity verification checks, certifies document copies, and submits verification to Companies House on their behalf. ACSPs typically charge £30-50 per verification depending on complexity, with Credas offering integrated checks through Inform Direct at £4 for biometric verification or £5 including address verification. This route provides human assistance through the process and handles edge cases like elderly directors uncomfortable with technology or those with non-standard identity documents.

Post Office verification offers a middle ground. Book an appointment at a participating branch using the GOV.UK website, bring identity documents and proof of address, and have them certified by trained Post Office staff using Yoti’s verification technology. The Post Office submits verification electronically to Companies House. Check which Post Office branches offer the service before directing clients there, as not all branches participate.

Step 3: Complete Digital Verification

Digital Companies House ID checks run through GOV.UK One Login, the government’s unified identity verification platform handling over 50,000 verification attempts daily across all government services. The system uses technology from iProov for biometric liveness detection and facial matching, with subcontractors Veriff and Inverid handling optical character recognition and document validation. For knowledge-based verification fallback routes, Experian provides fraud scoring and credit file cross-checking.

Create a Companies House account by providing email and password. After email confirmation, access identity verification and select your document type. Photograph your identity document clearly against a dark surface. For passports, capture the photo page showing your photograph and personal details. For driving licences, photograph the front containing your photo.

Veriff’s OCR technology extracts information from the document image, checking machine-readable zones and comparing extracted data against Home Office Passport Office (HMPO) databases for UK passports or DVLA databases for UK driving licences. This validates that the document exists in official records and matches the details you entered.

Inverid’s document validation technology examines security features including holograms, microprinting, UV markings, and guilloche patterns. The system compares these features against known specifications for genuine documents from the issuing country. Documents missing expected security features or showing signs of tampering trigger automatic rejection.

After document verification, take a selfie using iProov’s liveness detection technology. The system requires you to perform randomised prompts like turning your head left or right to defeat spoofing attacks including printed photographs, video replays, masks, and deepfake technology. iProov’s biometric algorithms then compare the selfie against your document photograph, measuring facial landmarks, geometric patterns, and distances between features to generate a similarity confidence score.

Successful verification generates an eleven-character Companies House Personal Code proving verified identity. Save this code securely. The entire digital process takes five to fifteen minutes for straightforward cases. Common failures include poor photograph quality, expired documents, insufficient facial match confidence, or document security features that cannot be validated.

Step 4: Integrate Verification into Your Onboarding Workflow

Capture Companies House ID checks status before incorporation or appointment filings. Build verification checkpoints into specific workflow stages using corporate secretarial software platforms.

During initial engagement, add verification status to your data collection forms. Ask whether directors and PSCs have verified accounts and request their Personal Codes if they claim verification. Corporate service provider platforms like Inform Direct, Kudos, and Duport enable automated status tracking through integration with Companies House’s public API endpoints, automatically flagging unverified individuals across your client portfolio.

For new incorporations, verify all directors and PSCs before drafting formation documents. Include a verification deadline in engagement letters, typically seven days before intended incorporation date. Do not prepare IN01 formation documents until you have confirmed valid Personal Codes for every proposed officer. The incorporation will fail if any individual lacks verification.

When filing changes, check verification status when clients request new appointments. New directors appointed after 18 November 2025 must verify before or simultaneously with appointment. Companies House rejects appointment forms lacking verification codes through real-time API validation. The filing system performs cryptographic verification of Personal Codes against the verification database, returning immediate rejection messages if codes are invalid, already used by someone else, or mismatched to the named individual. Budget three extra working days for appointments involving unverified individuals to allow time for them to complete the process.

Platforms like Inform Direct integrate directly with identity verification providers such as Credas, allowing ACSPs to trigger verification checks from within their practice management software at £4 per biometric check or £5 including an address check. The system maintains verification status across all companies where an individual holds positions, eliminating duplicate checking when someone serves as director of multiple client companies.

Create standard email templates explaining the verification requirement, which route to use based on circumstances, what documents to gather, and where to find the GOV.UK portal. Include screenshots of the process to reduce anxiety, particularly for elderly directors or those unfamiliar with digital services. Run weekly reports showing open matters where verification remains outstanding and chase proactively.

Step 5: Troubleshoot Verification Failures and Handle Non-Compliance

Verification failures happen regularly and require systematic troubleshooting. Most causes are technical rather than fraudulent, but non-compliance carries serious penalties.

Photograph quality causes more failures than any other factor. If Veriff’s OCR engine rejects a document photograph, check whether glare obscured security features, shadows fell across the page, or the image blurred due to camera shake. Retake in bright natural light against a dark surface. Lay the document flat on a table and photograph from directly above to avoid perspective distortion. Ensure the entire document fits within the frame without cutting off edges.

Facial matching failures frustrate users. iProov’s biometric algorithms measure facial landmarks and geometric patterns to generate match confidence scores. Significant weight changes, new glasses, different hairstyles, facial hair growth, or aging since the passport photograph was taken can reduce match confidence below the acceptance threshold. If someone struggles repeatedly with facial matching, try the agent-assisted route where professionals verify appearance in person and can attest to identity despite changes in appearance.

Expired documents are rejected automatically when checked against HMPO or DVLA databases. Check expiry dates before starting verification. Passports and driving licences must be valid at the point of verification. If a document expired recently, obtain renewal before attempting Companies House ID checks. Passport renewal through His Majesty’s Passport Office takes three weeks on average, longer during peak periods. Factor this into filing timelines.

Some legitimate documents trigger fraud detection rules. GOV.UK One Login employs machine learning models trained on thousands of fraudulent document attempts, with Experian providing additional fraud scoring based on credit file anomalies and identity consistency checks. Passports from certain countries, documents with unusual features, or documents where the holder has no UK credit history may be flagged for manual review. This extends verification from minutes to several working days. You cannot accelerate manual review by contacting Companies House.

If someone genuinely cannot verify through any route, they cannot act as director or PSC. No exemption process exists for medical conditions, disabilities, or practical difficulties. Consider whether alternative corporate structures would achieve your client’s objectives without requiring that specific individual to hold office.

Failing to verify carries significant consequences. Companies House can impose civil penalties up to £10,000 for non-compliance. Directors who act without verification commit criminal offences under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, as do companies that knowingly permit unverified directors to act. Beyond financial penalties, unverified status blocks all company filings, preventing submission of confirmation statements, accounts, and appointment forms. This can trigger strike-off proceedings if the company becomes unable to meet its statutory filing obligations. Companies House has indicated it will refer serious cases to the Insolvency Service for director disqualification proceedings.

Step 6: File Documents Using Verified Credentials

Once Companies House ID checks complete, individuals file documents electronically. The filing system uses OAuth 2.0 authentication to validate Personal Codes in real time.

Corporate service providers use platforms like Inform Direct, Duport, and Capsicum to prepare and submit filings. These integrate with Companies House’s WebFiling API and maintain verification status databases synchronized with the central register.

For new incorporations, the subscriber must log into their verified account. The system includes their Personal Code through session tokens. All proposed directors and PSCs must have Personal Codes included. When appointing new directors or PSCs, the form includes a mandatory field for the Personal Code. Attempting to file without valid codes results in rejection.

Annual confirmation statements require authentication using verified accounts. Software platforms automate this, collecting Personal Codes for all directors and PSCs and assembling statements with required verification data.

Step 7: Integrate Verification Data Into Risk Assessment Procedures

Successful Companies House ID checks create a new KYC and AML data point, though they do not replace Money Laundering Regulations obligations.

Check whether all directors and PSCs show verified status on Companies House register. Platforms like Inform Direct integrate API calls, automatically flagging unverified individuals. Absence of markers for individuals appointed after 18 November 2025 suggests compliance gaps.

RegTech platforms including ComplyAdvantage, Refinitiv World-Check, and TruNarrative integrate verification status into screening workflows, flagging mismatches in names or dates of birth. Investigate discrepancies.

For enhanced due diligence, request directors share verification confirmation screenshots. ACSPs can conduct checks using Credas, GBG, or Yoti.

Verification confirms identity but not integrity or suitability. Continue conducting sanctions screening, adverse media searches, and source of funds inquiries.

Step 8: Maintain Ongoing Compliance

Companies House ID checks are ongoing compliance requirements that will evolve as the system matures.

Audit your client portfolio to identify directors and PSCs who took office before 18 November 2025 and have not verified. Existing directors have until November 2026, but waiting creates risk. Platforms like Inform Direct, Duport, and Capsicum query the Companies House streaming API, receiving real-time notifications when verification statuses change.

Monitor Companies House guidance quarterly. Additional entity types may fall within scope from spring 2026. Update client engagement letters to address verification explicitly and include clauses requiring timely completion.

Train staff on verification procedures, covering GOV.UK One Login workflow, iProov’s liveness detection, and Veriff OCR failures. Document procedures in AML policies. Regulators will expect to see how you integrate Companies House ID checks into broader KYC processes.