ID verification labelling planned by Companies House

Jacob Grattage, Reporter, Business & Accountancy Daily. Croner-i

Proof of ID verification for directors will be introduced on Companies House register with a green tick once the process is up and running.

This will allow proper due diligence and evidence that directors and people with significant control (PSCs) have complied with the new ID verification rules due to come into effect on 18 November, although there will be a one-year transition process.

Company directors and people with significant control (PSCs) will be able to check the register to see ID verification due dates for all their roles, the register will show the date verification is due, which will be accompanied by a green tick to show compliance.

This confirmation of compliance will be publicly available, the register will also show if a director or PSC has not verified their identity in time, and how long it has been since the due date.

To date 1.5m people have already verified their identity out of the over six million existing directors on the register, this means that currently three quarters have not yet registered as the compliance dates are dependent on confirmation statement filing. Directors and PSCs will only have to verify their ID once.

Companies House did not confirm how many people had to register by the start of the ‘transition period’ on 18 November.

In a briefing Companies House said it was ‘really pleased with the volume of people that have gone through the verification – more than we anticipated and more than we expected’.

The key issue is that there is a one-year transition period. Companies House stressed ‘it is important to take away that tomorrow is a very important date but is the start of the transition period when we will be informing people that they have to verify’. 

These changes come into effect on 18 November, when directors and (PSCs) will by law have to start verifying their identities with Companies House.

They have stressed that this date is ‘not a deadline’, instead it marks the start of a ‘12-month transition period, giving your company time to make sure all directors and people with significant control (PSCs) have verified their identity by their due dates.’

The deadline for individual directors varies depending on their confirmation statement deadline, so some will not have to verify and submit until 17 November 2026.

As part of the communications plans Companies House will write to all affected directors within three weeks of their deadline for ID verification, to give them enough time to complete the process.

The plan is to ‘email companies directly before filing their annual confirmation statement to tell them they must provide identity verification statements for each of their directors by their filing deadline’.

On formal enforcement, correspondence will be sent to the company’s service address. For PSCs, letters will be sent to their residential address.

Penalties

There will be a penalty regime in place, but no details on the size of the financial sanctions have yet been announced.

Companies House has set out enforcement under ‘four broad categories.’ These include informing people of their obligations, nudging and guiding, dealing with non-compliance, and addressing fraud and criminal activity.

Informing people of their obligations, means ‘communicating with users about what they must do, how and by when’.

When ‘nudging and guiding people’ on compliance, they will signpost users to verify their identity online or to use an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP), such as an accountant or law firm.

On non-compliance if users do not comply with identity verification requirements by their due date, they will be sent a default letter. This letter will set out the offence of not complying with identity verification requirements and explain that enforcement action may ensue ‘without further notice’.

This will include prosecution through the courts, referral to the Insolvency Service and financial penalties.