In short: Companies House does not set ACSP prices — each authorised agent charges its own. At directorverifications.com it's £24.99 per person, completed within 24–48 hours, or £39.99 for Fast Track, guaranteed same day when your payment and your identity document are both received before 5pm, seven days a week. The price you see is the price you pay. And it's the same £24.99 whoever you are, whatever passport you hold and wherever in the world you live.
You've been told you must verify your identity for Companies House. You have found the word "ACSP". Now you want to know what it costs before you hand over a card number.
Here's the answer, without a runaround:
What ACSP identity verification costs with us
| Service | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | £24.99 per person | Completed within 24–48 hours |
| Fast Track | £39.99 per person | Guaranteed same day when your payment and your identity document are both received before 5pm, seven days a week |
Per person, not per company. Identity verification is an individual legal requirement. A company with three directors needs three verifications.
One price, once. 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. And you won't have to start again from the beginning of the process — we perform the human check automatically on the rare occasions it's needed.
We charge the same price, whatever passport you hold and whichever country it was issued in. It's £24.99 if your passport is British and £24.99 if it isn't, and the price doesn't change if you live outside the UK.
The difference between our two prices is speed and nothing else. Both offer the same ID check, carried out to the same Companies House standard, and both are submitted by us to the same Companies House ACSP portal. Fast Track buys you a tighter deadline and a quicker result, not a better result. And, please note the Fast Track condition has two halves — payment and document upload, both needed before 5pm — because we cannot verify someone who has paid but not yet uploaded anything. Our Fast Track service operates seven days a week, not just on weekdays.
Ready to get verified? Get verified for £24.99 · Get Fast Track for £39.99
Verifying several people at once — a board, an LLP, a group of PSCs — is a different conversation: see our bulk director verification service.
Why there is no standard ACSP price
Companies House authorises agents to be ACSPs but it does not regulate what they charge. Its own guidance on verifying your identity for Companies House says only that an authorised agent "may charge a fee for their services". If you want to see exactly what you’re paying for, our ACSP identity verification service page sets out what we check, what we send to Companies House, and what comes back to you. And if you’re still not sure what an ACSP actually is, or how to check that a firm really is one, our plain guide to what an ACSP is explains it.
So you're comparing firms, not looking up a rate — and the quoted figures are not always comparable. Some agents bundle verification into a wider accountancy or formation package. Some charge per company and then per person on top. Some charge again when the first attempt fails. We don't do any of these — the £24.99 or £39.99 (Fast Track) price you pay covers everything.
So the number that matters isn't the headline price — it's what you'll actually be charged, per person, with nothing added afterwards. Here's how ours compares.
How much do other ACSPs charge for ID verification?
ACSP fees and charges vary far more than you'd expect for what is, in the end, the same check to the same standard. When we checked the prices ACSPs publish on their own websites in September 2026, they ran from about £25 to £150 and upwards per person, so our £24.99 price sits at the bottom of that range. Some agents don't disclose their price publicly, meaning you need to contact them and ask — a major hassle, and not something many people will bother to do when a clearly priced, good-value option such as ours is right in front of them.
Something else worth knowing is that some ACSPs charge a good amount more if your passport isn't British. We found one advertising £24.99 for a British passport and £74.99 for a non-UK one — three times the price, for exactly the people the free UK government route so often turns away by failing to verify their IDs.
We charge the same £24.99 whoever you are, whatever your nationality and wherever in the world you live. Many of our customers hold non-UK passports and a good many live outside the UK, and we don't think they should pay more to verify their IDs because of this.
| directorverifications.com | What we found other ACSPs publishing, September 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per person | £24.99, or £39.99 for same day | From about £25 to £150 and upwards per person |
| If your passport isn't British | The same £24.99 | £74.99 at one agent that charges £24.99 for a British passport |
| Is the price published? | Yes, before you pay | Some don't disclose it unless you contact them and ask |
The government route is free. It's also why most of our customers are here.
Yes — verifying directly through GOV.UK costs nothing. It's also the thing that probably didn't work for the person reading this article.
On top of that, the free GOV.UK route asks a great deal more of you: you have to set up a GOV.UK One Login and install an app on your phone before it will even look at your documents. It's also built around UK documents and UK addresses, and it turns away a great many people who hold non-UK passports or live outside the UK. And if it refuses you, you don't get a second government attempt. You may find yourself locked out of GOV.UK One Login for weeks or even months, and there's no second free route sitting behind it, ready and waiting for you to give it another go. The Post Office route will also be closed off to you once the GOV.UK One Login has refused you and failed to verify your ID.
We know this at first hand — it happened to one of our own directors, and the Companies House helpline told him the only route left available was to use an ACSP. If it's already happened to you, our guide on what to do when Companies House ID verification fails covers it in detail.
| GOV.UK One Login | An ACSP such as directorverifications.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | £24.99 per person |
| GOV.UK One Login | Needed | Not needed |
| App on your phone | Usually needed | Never |
| Non-UK passport | ID verification often fails | Accepted |
| Living outside the UK | ID verification often fails | No UK address needed |
| Human review if the automated check fails | No | Included in the price |
| If it refuses you | There's no second government route available to you — no second chances are given | This rarely happens; but if it does, we automatically perform a human check to verify your ID manually. If this fails (which is very rare) talk to us and we'll sort it out — for no extra cost |
Using an ACSP to verify your ID is the only option available other than the free GOV.UK government route. An ACSP should verify your ID to exactly the same standard that Companies House stipulates — we certainly do. And our route is one that doesn't depend on downloading an app, government logins, your nationality, your passport type (biometric or machine readable are both acceptable to us) or where in the world you live.
To reiterate, with directorverifications.com there's no app to download and no GOV.UK One Login at any stage. The check is completed remotely, from any country. The law says you have to verify your ID, and no amount of money changes that. What your £24.99 buys is the easy way to do it.
Six questions to ask any ACSP before you pay — and our answers
Ask any ACSP these six questions before you pay them — us included. Here's how we answer each one.
- Is the price per person? Yes, our price is per person, and we say so before you pay.
- Is there a second charge if the first attempt fails? With us, no. Human review is always included in the price.
- Do you charge more if my passport isn't British, or if I live outside the UK? We don't. It's £24.99 (or £39.99 for Fast Track) wherever you live, whatever your nationality or wherever your passport was issued.
- Which ID documents will you accept? Ask before you pay, not after. We accept a biometric or machine-readable passport issued by any country in the world, a UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or EU photocard driving licence (full or provisional), an identity card with biometric information from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and a UK biometric residence permit or biometric residence card.
- Is the turnaround a target or a guarantee? Our turnaround time is 24–48 hours as standard, and Fast Track provides a same day service when your payment and your ID document both reach us before 5pm — both timings are guaranteed.
- Are you an authorised ACSP? Companies House publishes a list of ACSPs, and a separate list of ceased and suspended ones. Check both. We're on the list of ACSPs as FINOVIUM LIMITED ACSP, supervised by HMRC. directorverifications.com is a trading style of Finovium Limited, and the address that list shows is our registered office in London rather than our Chelsea office.
The bottom line
Verification is not optional. Since 18 November 2025 every director, LLP member, general partner, managing officer and PSC (Person with Significant Control) must verify. It's unlawful to act as a director without verifying your ID; and when a director is in breach, the company is in breach too.
So the question isn't really "£24.99 or free". Once the free route has turned you down, there's no free option left to try — and if you haven't tried it yet, the choice is £24.99 or the risk of being locked out of GOV.UK One Login for weeks.
directorverifications.com is an ACSP registered with Companies House, run by Finovium Limited, a firm of accountants, tax and business advisers in Chelsea, West London. To use our ID verification service you don't need to install an app and you don't need a GOV.UK One Login. We charge the same price whatever passport you hold, wherever your passport was issued and whatever nationality you are. Our price includes an automatic human review if it's needed, without you having to ask for it. Your 11-character personal code will be emailed straight to your inbox by Companies House.
Standard — £24.99 per person, completed within 24–48 hours.
Fast Track — £39.99 per person, guaranteed same day when your payment and your identity document are both received before 5pm, seven days a week.
Get verified for £24.99 · Get Fast Track for £39.99
Frequently asked questions
How much does an ACSP cost?
There is no fixed price — Companies House authorises agents but does not set their fees. At directorverifications.com it's £24.99 per person, completed within 24–48 hours, or £39.99 for Fast Track — and it's the same price whatever passport you hold, wherever you live or whatever your nationality is.
How much do ACSPs charge for ID verification?
It varies, and quoted figures are not always comparable. When we checked the published prices in September 2026 they ran from about £25 to £150 and upwards per person. Some bundle it into a wider package, some charge per company and then per person, and some charge again if the first attempt fails. Ask what happens if their automated check can't verify your ID. We won't charge you again.
Do ACSPs charge more if my passport isn't British?
Some do — we found one advertising £24.99 for a British passport and £74.99 for a non-UK one. We don't do this. It's £24.99 whoever you are, whatever nationality you are and wherever in the world you live, and you don't need a UK address to use our service.
Is the £24.99 per person or per company?
Per person. Verification is an individual requirement, so three directors means three verifications.
What's the difference between your £24.99 and your £39.99 service?
Speed, and nothing else. Both are the same check, to the same Companies House standard, submitted to the same Companies House ACSP portal. Standard completes the service within 24–48 hours. Fast Track is a guaranteed same day service when both your payment and your identity document are received before 5pm, seven days a week.
Do I pay again if my verification fails first time?
Not with us. 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.
Are there any other ACSP fees or charges on top?
Not with us. The price you see is the price you pay — no hidden extras, and nothing is added if your passport (or other ID document) isn't British.
Why pay an ACSP when the GOV.UK route is free?
Because for a great many people the free route doesn't work and, even when it works, it's a great deal of hassle. It needs a GOV.UK One Login and you usually need to install an app on your phone, it's built around UK documents and UK addresses, and it turns away a lot of people who hold non-UK passports or live outside the UK. If it refuses you, there's no second government route to try. directorverifications.com verifies you remotely, from any country, with no app and no GOV.UK One Login needed.
What happens after I've paid?
Once we've verified your ID, Companies House emails your 11-character personal code directly to your inbox, and you connect it to your roles by submitting it to Companies House whenever it's needed. See our guide to the Companies House personal code.
£24.99 per person, completed within 24–48 hours — or £39.99 for Fast Track, guaranteed same day when your payment and your identity document both reach us before 5pm, seven days a week. Get verified for £24.99 · Get Fast Track for £39.99
