Rules & law
Directors have until 17 November to verify their identity with Companies House
The 12-month transition for existing company directors ends on 17 November 2026. If your company's confirmation statement is still to come, your directors' identity checks must go in with it.
Company directors who have not yet verified their identity with Companies House are running out of time. The transition period for people who were already directors when the new rules started ends on 17 November 2026.
What the rule says
Since 18 November 2025, anyone who becomes a director of a UK company has to verify their identity with Companies House. People who were already directors were given a transition: their company has to confirm that each existing director is verified at the same time as it files its next confirmation statement.
The regulations set that transition as the 12 months beginning on 18 November 2025. In practice, that means every company will have filed at least one confirmation statement inside the window — and with it, an identity statement for each director.
Persons with significant control (PSCs) follow a slightly different timetable. A PSC who is not also a director has an appointed day based on their birth month, running from 1 December 2025 for people born in December to 1 November 2026 for people born in November.
What to do now
- Check when your company's next confirmation statement is due. You can see it on the company's page on the Companies House register.
- Each director verifies once, using GOV.UK One Login. When it is done they receive a personal code.
- When you file the confirmation statement, you give each director's personal code.
- If a director cannot use GOV.UK One Login, an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP) can carry out the check for a fee.
Verification is a one-off. A director of several companies uses the same personal code for all of them.
Why it matters
The change comes from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which gave Companies House new powers to check the information on the register. Once a director's verification falls due, the law bars them from acting as a director until their identity is verified.
If you run a small limited company, the simplest step is to do the check now rather than on the day the confirmation statement is due.
Sources
- The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1118) — legislation.gov.uk (Open Government Licence v3.0)
- Register a company: verify your identity — GOV.UK (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Written by the Padasil Newsroom in our own words from the sources above, checked against them on 24 October 2026. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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