The Problems With Verifying Your Identity Directly Through Companies House (And Why It's Far Worse With a Non-UK Passport)

On paper, verifying your identity for Companies House yourself looks free and simple. In practice, the government's own route trips up a surprising number of directors - and for anyone holding a non-British passport, it can become a dead end. This short guide explains exactly where the direct route goes wrong, and the simpler alternative - directorverifications.com - when it does.

The Problems With The Companies House / GOV.UK One Login Route

To verify directly with Companies House, you don't just "prove who you are." You have to:

•       Create a GOV.UK One Login account - a separate government login many people don't have and don't want.

•       Download the GOV.UK ID Check app onto an NFC-enabled smartphone - no app, or an older phone, and you're stuck before you start.

•       Scan your document's chip and your face through that app, and hope the automated check reads everything correctly.

The trouble is that the automated system often fails to verify people - a slightly worn document, an unusual chip, poor lighting, or simply a document the system doesn't handle well is enough to be rejected. And here's the part that catches people out: from what we hear from customers, once GOV.UK One Login has failed to verify you, it can lock you out for an indeterminate - and very lengthy - period, with no quick way back in. If a filing deadline is looming, that's a genuine problem - and it's exactly the dead end directorverifications.com was set up to help people avoid.

With a Non-British Passport, The Problems Become Close To Insurmountable

If you hold a non-UK passport or other overseas ID, the direct route is far harder still. In our experience, and from what customers repeatedly tell us, the government's system usually rejects non-British ID documentation - the very people who most need a reliable route are the ones it fails most often.

What makes this so frustrating is that Companies House officially states it accepts all of the following documents:

•       Biometric or machine-readable passport

•       Irish passport card

•       UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and EU photocard driving licence (full or provisional)

•       Identity card with biometric information from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

•       UK biometric residence permit (BRP)

•       UK biometric residence card (BRC)

•       UK Frontier Worker permit

Yet in practice the automated system frequently fails to read these documents when they are non-British - and then locks the person out. For an overseas director, that can leave the free route effectively closed: rejected by the app, and unable to try again. That is the point at which most overseas directors turn to directorverifications.com.

The Non-Biometric Passport Trap

Here's a specific problem we're asked about all the time. A non-biometric passport - one that is machine-readable but has no electronic chip - is, according to Companies House, an acceptable document, and it appears on the list above. But the GOV.UK One Login app verifies a passport by scanning the chip with your phone's NFC reader. No chip means there is nothing for the app to scan - so in practice these passports are frequently rejected by the government system, even though the official guidance says they qualify.

This catches out a lot of people with older or non-chipped passports, and it's another example of the gap between what Companies House says it accepts and what its automated system will actually verify. directorverifications.com can help where the app can't: our verification partner's technology validates a machine-readable passport by checking its physical security features, so a missing chip is no obstacle.

When You're Locked Out, An ACSP Is Your Only Real Option

Here's the key point that isn't obvious until it happens to you: once the Companies House identity verification website has failed to verify your ID and locked you out, you have essentially no option but to use an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorverifications.com. The good news is that this route is simpler and easier anyway - and you don't have to fail first to choose it.

The Simpler Alternative: directorverifications.com

directorverifications.com is an ACSP authorised by Companies House, with direct access to the Companies House ACSP portal to submit your verified ID details. Using us means:

•       No GOV.UK One Login. No app to download. You simply click a secure link we email you and scan your document and face using your phone, laptop or desktop camera.

•       Non-British documents handled with ease. Our verification partner's state-of-the-art AI technology reliably reads and validates the non-British documents the government app so often rejects.

•       Non-biometric passports too. We can verify machine-readable passports that have no chip for the app to scan, by validating their physical security features instead.

•       No lock-out risk, and expert human backup if anything needs a second look.

•       Fast: our standard service is £24.99 (24–48 hours, often quicker) and our fast-track same-day service is £39.99

when you register and pay before 4pm on a working day.

Whether you've already been rejected by the government system or simply want to avoid the risk, we can get you verified and your data submitted to Companies House quickly. For overseas directors in particular, see our guide to ID verification for non-British passport holders; if you need several people done at once, see bulk director ID verification.

Don't risk a lock-out before a deadline - verify your identity the easy way with directorverifications.com.

Frequently Asked Questions