18 November 2026: what it actually means if you still haven’t verified your ID

18 November 2026 is the date some directors have heard about. It’s the end of the twelve-month transition period Companies House set when ID verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. But it’s rarely the date that applies to you - and if your ID still isn’t verified, there’s a good chance your own date has already passed.

This page explains what 18 November 2026 really is, how to find your own date, what Companies House can do once that date has gone, and how to get verified quickly - including if GOV.UK One Login has already refused you.

Get verified for £24.99 · Get Fast Track, same day, for £39.99

What 18 November 2026 actually is

When ID verification became law on 18 November 2025, Companies House didn’t ask the 6-7 million people it expected to verify their IDs all on the same day. It phased them in over twelve months - for directors, it’s tied to each company’s own filing calendar. In the words of Companies House, existing directors confirm they’ve verified "at the same time as they file their next annual confirmation statement, during a 12-month transition period".

A company files a confirmation statement at least once every twelve months. So by 18 November 2026, almost every company’s confirmation statement date will have come round once - and with it, the date its existing directors had to provide their 11-character personal code. That’s why 18 November 2026 marks the end of the transition, not a deadline everyone shares.

Your own date, and how to find it

If you’re a director, your date is your company’s confirmation statement date. GOV.UK says you "will need to provide your Companies House personal code as part of your company’s next confirmation statement" - and if you’re a director of more than one company, that applies to each one.

If you’re a PSC (Person with Significant Control) and not a director, your date is the first 14 days of your birth month. If you’re both a director and a PSC of the same company, you provide the same code twice: once in the confirmation statement, and once through the "Provide identity verification details for a PSC" service, in the 14 days starting the day after the company’s confirmation statement date. Our guide to PSC ID verification and its two deadlines walks through it.

If you became a PSC after 18 November 2025, you provide your code when you’re first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added. And you don’t have to work any of this out from scratch - GOV.UK puts it simply: "You can check the dates of your 14 day period on the Companies House register."

If your date has already passed

Then you’re already late, and 18 November 2026 doesn’t give you extra time. Companies House has published how it deals with people who haven’t verified. Its enforcement starts with a default letter, and it "may issue financial penalties at company or individual officer level" - so a penalty can land on you personally, not just on the company. It can also annotate the public register, and in serious cases it can prosecute.

That isn’t theoretical. On 16 September 2026, three directors were convicted and fined at City of London Magistrates’ Court in the first prosecutions brought over these requirements. One of them had verified his own ID and was prosecuted anyway, for failing to take reasonable steps to stop an unverified co-director from continuing to act as a director of the same company.

There’s a practical problem too. Companies House won’t accept a company’s confirmation statement until every director has verified and provided their personal code, so one unverified director holds up the whole filing.

If you’ve missed your date, the answer is the same as it was before it passed: get verified now. Our guide to a missed ID verification deadline covers what Companies House can do, and what to do first.

What changes after the transition

Companies House’s published transition plan says that, by no earlier than the end of 2026, it expects to "complete the transition period for all individuals on the register requiring identity verification", with compliance work against people who still haven’t verified to follow. In plain words: the settling-in period is ending.

Further out, the same plan says that by no earlier than November 2027, any third-party agent filing documents on a company’s behalf will have to be registered as an ACSP, and the person filing will have to verify their ID too - with at least six months’ notice before that comes in. ID verification for limited partnerships, corporate directors and corporate members of LLPs will come in at a later date, which Companies House hasn’t set yet.

If GOV.UK One Login has already refused you

This is where a lot of people get stuck. If GOV.UK One Login refuses to verify you, there’s no second government route. You may find yourself locked out of GOV.UK One Login for weeks or even months, and the Post Office route isn’t open to you either once GOV.UK One Login has refused you. We know that at first hand: it happened to one of our own directors, and the Companies House helpline told him the only route left was to use an ACSP.

An ACSP (Authorised Corporate Service Provider) is a business Companies House has authorised to verify your ID on its behalf. A refusal from GOV.UK One Login doesn’t stop you using one, and it doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with your documents.

Getting verified now

With us it’s a short and simple process. You pay £24.99, upload your ID document and a photo of yourself through the secure link we’ll email you, and we do the checking. There’s no app to install, no GOV.UK One Login to set up and no UK address needed – you can use any passport, whichever country issued it.

Standard verification is completed within 24 to 48 hours on weekdays. If your date is close, or already gone, Fast Track costs £39.99 and is completed the same day when your payment and your ID document both reach us before 5pm, seven days a week.

If our automated, AI-powered check cannot verify your ID, a member of our team reviews your documents by hand. That’s included in the price - we’ll never charge you twice.

Once your verified details are with Companies House, Companies House emails your 11-character personal code direct to your inbox. Providing it on time is your job, and our guide to the Companies House personal code explains where it goes for your role.

Get verified for £24.99 · Get Fast Track, same day, for £39.99

Questions people ask

Is 18 November 2026 the deadline for every director?

No. It’s the end of the twelve-month transition period. Your own date is your company’s confirmation statement date if you’re a director, or your 14-day window if you’re a PSC - and for most people that date falls before 18 November 2026.

What happens if I still haven’t verified after my date?

Companies House can send a default letter, issue financial penalties to the company or to you personally, annotate the public register and, in serious cases, prosecute. Your company’s confirmation statement also won’t be accepted until every director has verified.

Can I still verify my ID after my date has passed?

Yes, and you should do it straight away. The process is exactly the same, and Fast Track gets it done the same day.

GOV.UK One Login refused me. Can I still be verified?

Yes. An ACSP can verify you even after GOV.UK One Login has refused you - it’s the reason most of our customers come to us.

How much does it cost?

directorverifications.com charges £24.99 per person, completed within 24 to 48 hours on weekdays, or £39.99 for Fast Track, for a same day service. The price is the same whichever country issued your passport, and there’s nothing extra if our team checks your documents by hand.

Written by the directorverifications.com team

An ACSP registered with Companies House

directorverifications.com is the ID verification service of Finovium Limited, a firm of accountants and tax advisers based in Chelsea, West London. Finovium is registered with Companies House as an ACSP (Authorised Corporate Service Provider), registered with HMRC as an authorised tax agent, and registered with the ICO. We set this service up after the government's own ID verification route refused to verify one of our own directors, and we built it to provide a good value, hassle-free ID verification service for the people the government's free service rejects and turns away. More about us.