director-verification

Accountants and ID verification: should your firm register as an ACSP, or use one?

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:20:32 GMT

For accountants: what verifying clients’ IDs yourself really involves, and when it’s simpler and quicker to send them to an approved ACSP, from £24.99.

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

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:31:25 GMT

18 November 2026 ends the Companies House ID verification transition, but your own date may already have passed. What it means, and how to verify from £24.99.

Which ID documents can an ACSP accept? Why your passport is the one that always works

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:40:03 GMT

Which ID documents an ACSP can accept for Companies House ID verification, why most non-UK driving licences won’t do, and why a passport always works.

Director ID verification: everything a UK company director actually has to do

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:00:18 GMT

Every UK company director must now verify their ID with Companies House. Who it applies to, the two routes, and what the 11-character personal code is for.

What is an ACSP? The plain answer, and why you’ve been advised to use an ACSP

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:52:45 GMT

ACSP means Authorised Corporate Service Provider: a business Companies House authorises to verify your ID. What one does, how to check it, and what it costs.

Missed your ID verification deadline? Here's what Companies House can actually do about it

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:43:23 GMT

Miss your Companies House ID verification deadline and you may be committing an offence. What Companies House can actually do about it, and how to put it right.

PSC ID verification: why Companies House makes you send the same 11-character personal code twice

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:27:35 GMT

PSC ID verification: who must verify, why some PSCs submit their code twice, when your 14 days fall, and how to verify from £24.99 - same day if needed.

How much does an ACSP cost? Companies House identity verification prices (2026)

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 07:05:08 GMT

What an ACSP charges to verify your ID for Companies House: £24.99 per person, £39.99 same day - the same price whatever passport you hold. Checked Sept 2026.

Companies House ID verification failed? 8 reasons why it happened and how to fix the problem (2026)

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:42:45 GMT

Refused by GOV.UK One Login? The 8 reasons it happens, why you can’t simply try again, and how an approved ACSP verifies you from £24.99 - same day if needed.

Companies House personal code: what it is, how to get one, and what to do if Companies House rejects you (as it often does!) (2026 Guide)

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 05:39:56 GMT

In short: A Companies House personal code is an 11-character identifier, formatted XXX-XXXX-XXXX, issued to you once you have successfully verified your identity with Companies House. It belongs to you as a person, not to any company. You cannot look it up in advance — it does not exist until you are verified. There are two routes to getting one: GOV.UK One Login, or an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorverifications.com . Standard verification through directorverifications.com is completed within 24–48 hours for £24.99, with a same-day Fast Track option at £39.99.

If you are a UK company director, a Person with Significant Control (PSC), an LLP member or a general partner of a limited partnership, the phrase Companies House personal code has probably landed in your inbox at some point in the last few months — usually attached to a filing deadline you did not know you had.

Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) 2023, this code is now the mechanism by which you prove to Companies House that you are who you say you are. Without it, your company cannot file its confirmation statement, you cannot be appointed to a new board, and you cannot incorporate a new company.

Companies House has estimated that somewhere between 6 and 7 million people need to complete this process. A large number of them will leave it until their filing deadline is days away.

This guide covers what the code actually is, the exact steps to get one, the deadline that applies to your role specifically, and — the part most guides skip entirely — what to do when something goes wrong. It also explains why, for a significant group of non-British directors, an ACSP like directorverifications.com is not merely the easier route but the only route available.

What is a Companies House personal code?

A Companies House personal code is a unique 11-character identifier issued by Companies House once you have successfully completed identity verification. It is formatted as XXX-XXXX-XXXX — a mix of letters and numbers.

Three things about it are worth understanding properly, because they cause most of the confusion we see at directorverifications.com :

1. It is personal, not corporate. The code attaches to you, not to a company. If you are a director of five companies, you verify once and use the same personal code for all five appointments. You should never verify a second time unless Companies House explicitly asks you to.

2. It cannot be looked up. There is no search tool, no register lookup, no "find my code" page. The code does not exist until the moment your identity check succeeds. If you are searching for how to find your Companies House personal code and you have never been verified, the honest answer is that you need to get one first — which is what directorverifications.com exists to do.

3. It is a credential, so treat it like one. Companies House compares it to your HMRC Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). You may need to share it with an accountant or agent who files on your behalf, but it should not be circulated casually. If you believe your code has been compromised, Companies House can cancel it and issue a new one.

There is a small inconsistency worth clearing up, because it appears across a lot of published guidance: the code is often described as "11-digit". It is 11 characters, and it contains letters as well as numbers. If a guide tells you to expect eleven numerals, that guide is out of date.

Who needs a Companies House personal code?

Identity verification — and therefore a personal code — currently applies to:

Company directors of UK-registered companies
The equivalent of a director, including LLP members, general partners of limited partnerships, and managing officers
Directors of overseas companies registered in the UK
People with Significant Control (PSCs) — see our detailed guide on what documents you need for a PSC personal code
Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) themselves — every ACSP, including directorverifications.com, has had to verify its own people before it could be authorised

Companies House has confirmed that verification will be extended at a later date to people who file at Companies House, limited partnerships, corporate directors, corporate members of LLPs, and officers of corporate PSCs.

Critically, there is no geographic exemption. A director living in Dubai, Lagos, Warsaw or Sydney has exactly the same obligation as a director living in Leeds. If you hold a UK company role, the requirement applies to you. Our guide to ID verification for non-UK citizen company directors covers the overseas position in detail.

The two-step process most people miss

Here is the single most common misunderstanding we encounter at directorverifications.com , and it causes real filing failures.

Getting your personal code is only step one. Companies House sets out two distinct steps:

Completing a successful identity check — which produces your personal code.
Providing an identity verification statement to Companies House, which supplies that code and connects your verified identity to the register.

You can be fully verified, holding your code, and still be non-compliant, because you have not yet connected it to your role. Directors do this through the company's confirmation statement. PSCs do it through the separate "Provide identity verification details for a PSC" service.

If you take one thing from this guide: verify early, then connect the code. Doing them in one panicked session before a filing deadline is how people end up in trouble.

Your deadline depends on your role — here is the actual rule

The widely quoted date is 18 November 2026. That is the practical backstop for existing office-holders, but it is not the rule that will actually catch you out. The real rules are these.

Two things follow from that table. First, a company cannot file its confirmation statement unless all of its directors are verified — so one unverified colleague blocks the whole filing, and every director is then exposed. Second, the PSC 14-day window is genuinely tight, and if your company files its confirmation statement early, your window does not move.

This is precisely why customers come to directorverifications.com rather than gambling on a self-service portal a fortnight before a hard deadline. If you are already inside a tight window, our Fast Track same-day verification service exists for exactly that situation.

How to get your Companies House personal code: the two routes

Route 1 — GOV.UK One Login (free, self-service)

GOV.UK One Login’s own route is its app, and it accepts only a narrow set of documents. This matters enormously and is almost never explained clearly:

The One Login app. Requires a reasonably modern phone (iPhone 8 or newer on iOS 16.7+, or Android 10+). Accepted documents: UK photocard driving licence, UK passport, non-UK passport with a biometric chip, UK biometric residence permit, UK biometric residence card, or UK Frontier Worker permit.

Route 2 — an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

An ACSP is a firm authorised by Companies House to carry out identity checks on your behalf. To be authorised, it must be supervised by a UK Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisory body. directorverifications.com is a registered ACSP — it is the trading name of Finovium Limited, a firm of accountants, tax and business advisers based in Chelsea, West London, with over ten years of experience and AML supervision, ICO registration and HMRC tax agent authorisation behind it.

Companies House explicitly confirms you can use an ACSP from any country. Full detail on how the route works is on our What is an ACSP verification service page.

If you want the fuller picture before you choose one — what an ACSP actually is, who can register as one, and how to tell a good one from a bad one — read our complete guide to what is an ACSP .

The document problem for non-British directors

This is where the two routes stop being equivalent, and where a lot of overseas directors discover they are stuck.

Look carefully at the One Login app's accepted list. It takes a non-UK passport only if it has a biometric chip. It does not take a non-UK driving licence. It does not take an EU or EEA national identity card. And once GOV.UK One Login has refused you, the Post Office route isn’t open to you either.

There is a bigger problem than any of that, and almost nobody is told about it. If GOV.UK One Login refuses to verify you once, that is the end of the government route: you do not get a second attempt, and you cannot fall back on the Post Office option either, whatever the guidance says is available. You are locked out of GOV.UK One Login for an indeterminate period — often several weeks, sometimes several months. We know this at first hand as well as from our customers: when the government route would not verify our own director’s identity, we rang the Companies House helpline and were told plainly that the only route left was to use an ACSP.

Now compare that with the standard an ACSP works to. Under Companies House's published identity verification standard, an ACSP checking documents can accept, among others: a passport or Irish passport card, an EU/Norway/Iceland/Liechtenstein biometric identity card, a UK BRP or BRC, a UK or EU photocard driving licence, a photographic work permit, a photographic immigration document and a photographic visa. Checks may be completed remotely.

The practical consequence is straightforward. If you are a non-British director who holds a national identity card or a non-UK driving licence rather than a biometric passport, the GOV.UK route is effectively closed to you. An ACSP such as directorverifications.com is not the convenient alternative — it is the route that exists for you.

From what customers repeatedly tell us, this is not a fringe scenario. Millions of EU citizens hold a national ID card and no passport. And even among those who do hold a biometric passport, we hear constantly from directors whose app-based attempt failed for reasons they could not diagnose. Our guide to the problems with verifying directly through Companies House and our dedicated guide for non-British passport holders go deeper on this.

One reassuring point, because it is widely misunderstood : you do not need a passport. Government-issued biometric national identity cards and photocard driving licences are accepted, and overseas customers of directorverifications.com use them routinely.

Getting verified through directorverifications.com: step by step

Step 1 — Choose your service. Standard verification is £24.99 and is completed within 24–48 hours. Fast Track is £39.99 with a guaranteed same-day turnaround, provided your order reaches us by 5pm, seven days a week.

Step 2 — Provide your details. Companies House requires your ACSP to collect your full name, date of birth, home address and an email address. Your address is recorded, not verified — an ACSP is not required to prove where you live. Make sure the email address is one you can access — Companies House sends your personal code directly to that address, not to us.

Step 3 — Scan your document and your face. You will receive an email with a "Start Verification" link. No app installation. No GOV.UK One Login account at any point. Our verification partner uses enterprise-grade biometric AI, accredited to ISO 27001, eIDAS 2.0, ETSI, IEEE 2089.1-2024, NIST Level 1 & 2 PAD and ISO 30107-3 Levels 1 and 2. In the small number of cases where the AI cannot confirm a match, a trained human reviews the documents rather than simply rejecting you.

Step 4 — We submit to Companies House. directorverifications.com files your verified identity through the official Companies House ACSP portal.

Step 5 — Companies House emails your code. It usually arrives within a few hours of submission. Check your spam folder if it does not.

Step 6 — Connect it to your roles. Provide the code in your confirmation statement (as a director) or via the PSC service (as a PSC). Companies House also recommends saving your code to a Companies House account so you can retrieve it later.

If you are an accountant, solicitor or company formation agent handling several people at once, our bulk director verification service is built for exactly that — see also our guide to bulk director ID verification .

What appears on the public register

If you verify through an ACSP and then connect your code to the register, Companies House publishes a verification statement showing your name, the date your identity was verified, the name of the ACSP that verified you, and the AML supervisory bodies that ACSP is registered with. Your identity documents are never published.

Troubleshooting: when your code doesn't work

This section covers the questions our support team is asked most, and which almost no other guide addresses.

"I never received my code." If you verified through an ACSP, the code goes to the email address the ACSP supplied. Check spam first, then contact your ACSP to confirm the address they used. Note that directorverifications.com never receives your personal code from Companies House — we cannot look it up or recover it for you, which is why the email address you give us matters so much.

"I've lost my code." If you saved it to a Companies House account, sign in and look under Manage account. If you verified via GOV.UK One Login, sign in with the same email address you used and check Manage account there.

"Companies House says my details don't match." This usually means one of three things: the code was typed incorrectly; your date of birth is wrong on the Companies House record; or the ACSP submitted incorrect details for you. Check the date of birth held for you via WebFiling and correct it before trying again.

"I think my code has been shared or compromised." Contact Companies House directly. They can cancel the existing code and email you a replacement.

"The GOV.UK route already rejected me." A failed attempt does not disqualify you. An ACSP can still verify you — see our guide on the eight most common reasons Companies House ID verification fails , and our ECCTA compliance guide for the wider picture.

What happens if you don't verify

Companies House has published its enforcement approach, and it is not merely administrative. It is unlawful for a director to act as a director without completing identity verification — and where an individual director breaches the requirement, the company is also in breach.

The published enforcement toolkit includes prosecution through the courts, referral to the Insolvency Service, financial penalties at company or individual officer level, director disqualification, annotation of the public register against your name, and court orders. Companies House treats three or more offences over a five-year period as "serious", making prosecution more likely.

You will also be unable to be appointed as a new director, register a new company, or register as an ACSP.

There is a narrow representations process for genuinely exceptional circumstances — Companies House gives the example of a serious IT failure at the moment the statement was due — and the registrar has discretion to extend a PSC's due date by up to 14 days. Neither is a substitute for verifying on time.

Get your Companies House personal code today

Your personal code is now a permanent part of holding any UK company role. Getting one is not difficult, but the GOV.UK route quietly excludes a large group of people — particularly non-British directors whose documents fall outside a narrow accepted list, and anyone GOV.UK One Login has already refused.

directorverifications.com is a Companies House-approved ACSP that handles the whole process for you: no app, no GOV.UK One Login, human review where the technology needs it, and your code emailed straight to your inbox.

Standard service — £24.99, completed within 24–48 hours.

Fast Track — £39.99, guaranteed same day when ordered by 5pm, seven days a week.

Get verified for £24.99 — or contact the team at directorverifications.com if you would like to talk it through first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Director ID Verification for ECCTA in Five Secure Steps (2026)

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 06:45:15 GMT

Who Needs To Verify?

Several groups fall within scope of ECCTA identity verification:

• Company directors - everyone holding a director role at a UK company.

• Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) - broadly, anyone owning or controlling more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights. See PSC verification .

• LLP members and Limited Partnership partners - LLP members are in scope, and Limited Partnership partners are being brought in during 2026.

• Filers and presenters - company secretaries, accountants and formation agents who submit documents on a company's behalf will also need to verify, in a later phase being rolled out during 2026.

Companies House estimates that six to seven million people across the UK fall into these categories. directorverifications.com can verify any of them.

Why the "Free" Route Often Isn't The Easy Route

You can technically verify yourself for free through GOV.UK One Login - but "free" and "easy" aren't the same thing. The government route means creating a GOV.UK One Login account, downloading the ID Check app onto an NFC-enabled smartphone, and passing a single automated scan. Worn documents, older phones and non-British IDs are frequently rejected, and a failed attempt can lock you out for a lengthy, unpredictable period . If that happens close to a deadline, it becomes a real problem - see why Companies House rejects verifications and what to do next .

By contrast, directorverifications.com - an ACSP with direct access to the Companies House ACSP portal - needs no GOV.UK One Login and no app, combines AI with human review, and removes the lock-out risk.

Especially If You're a Non-British Directo r

If you hold non-British ID documents, this matters even more. From what customers repeatedly tell us, it is effectively impossible to get verified through the Companies House system with non-British documents - we hear that the government's app rejects them and locks people out - which leaves directors with no realistic choice but to use an ACSP such as directorverifications.com . And you don't need a passport to verify with us: many overseas customers use a government-issued national identity card or driving licence , which are accepted just as well. If that's you, start with ID verification for non-UK-citizen company directors .

Identity verification under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) is no longer optional paperwork - it's a legal requirement enforced by Companies House. If you're a UK company director, this guide breaks the process into five simple, secure steps, and shows you the easiest, lowest-risk way to complete it: through directorverifications.com

directorverifications.com is a trusted service from Finovium Limited - a firm of accountants based in London - and an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes by HMRC. We help UK and overseas directors, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) and LLP members complete Companies House identity verification quickly, securely and in full compliance with ECCTA - with no GOV.UK One Login and no app to download.

What Is ECCTA Director ID Verification?

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced a legal duty for every UK company director, LLP member and PSC to verify their identity with Companies House. It became mandatory for all new directors and new incorporations from 18 November 2025 . Existing directors and PSCs have a 12-month transition window that closes on 18 November 2026 , with the exact deadline tied to your company's confirmation statement cycle.

Once verified, you receive a unique 11-character personal code that must be quoted on future filings, including director appointments, PSC notifications and confirmation statements. Non-compliance is a serious matter: directors who fail to verify risk fines, disqualification, rejected filings , and a visible "unverified" flag on the public register. directorverifications.com exists to get you compliant well before any of that becomes a risk.

Five Secure Steps To Complete Your Verification

Step 1: Confirm your deadline. New directors and new incorporations must verify immediately, before an appointment is registered. Existing directors must verify by their company's next confirmation statement, and no later than 18 November 2026. Mark the date now.

Step 2: Choose the low-risk route - an ACSP. You can verify directly through GOV.UK One Login, or have an ACSP such as directorverifications.com verify you. Given the government route's failure and lock-out risk - and the fact that non-British documents are so often rejected - most directors who want certainty choose directorverifications.com, and businesses with several people to verify almost always do.

Step 3: Prepare your ID. Have a government-issued photo ID ready - a passport, a national identity card or a driving licence all work, so you can use whichever you already have. directorverifications.com uses electronic likeness-matching, comparing a live photo of your face against your document. Having it ready keeps everything quick.

Step 4: Complete the check. Click the secure link directorverifications.com emails you, scan your ID and complete a quick face scan using your phone, laptop or desktop camera. There's nothing to download. It's a one-time check.

Step 5: Receive and use your personal code. After successful verification, we submit your data to Companies House through the ACSP portal, and Companies House emails you a unique 11-character personal code . Store it securely - you'll quote it on confirmation statements, director appointments, PSC notifications and other filings. If you sit on multiple boards, you use the same code across each.

What Happens If You Miss The Deadline?

By the end of 2026, Companies House expects to begin active enforcement against directors and PSCs who haven't verified - including rejecting filings and flagging unverified individuals on the public register, which can affect your credibility with clients, lenders and partners. Getting verified early through directorverifications.com is the simplest way to stay ahead of it.

Why Directors Choose Directorverifications.com

• An ACSP authorised by Companies House , with direct ACSP-portal access.

• No GOV.UK One Login and no app - just a secure link.

• AI plus human review , so edge cases aren't auto-rejected.

• The reliable route for non-British and non-biometric documents .

• £24.99 standard (always completed within 48 hours) or £39.99 fast-track same-day before 5pm, seven days a week.

[ Get verified with directorverifications.com for £24.99 ] and stay ahead of ECCTA compliance.

Key Takeaways

• Director ID verification under ECCTA is a legal requirement, not a recommendation.

• New directors must verify before appointment; existing directors have until their next confirmation statement, and no later than 18 November 2026.

• The free GOV.UK route is failure- and lock-out-prone; for non-British documents it's effectively unusable - an ACSP such as directorverifications.com is the reliable route.

• It's a one-time check that issues an 11-character personal code for future filings.

• Getting verified early with directorverifications.com avoids last-minute disruption.

Frequently Asked Questions

Expert ID Verification for UK Company Directors: Your Complete Guide to Companies House Compliance (2026)

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 06:15:44 GMT

directorverifications.com , operated by Finovium Limited - a firm of accountants based in London - is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes by HMRC. We help UK and international company directors, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) and LLP members complete Companies House identity verification quickly, securely and in full compliance with the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) - without a GOV.UK One Login, and without downloading any app.

Why Director ID Verification Now Matters

Under ECCTA, identity verification isn't optional. Directors, PSCs and (in a later phase) those who file on a company's behalf must confirm who they are before they can be listed on the register or continue filing. Once verified, you're issued a unique Companies House personal code - an 11-character code (a mix of letters and numbers) that is tied to you permanently and quoted every time you're named on a future filing. You verify once and reuse the same code across every company role you hold.

Skipping this step - or getting stuck part-way through - isn't just an inconvenience. Filings can be rejected, directors can be blocked from being properly recorded on the register, and Companies House can pursue penalties. For the full legal picture, see our ECCTA compliance guide .

Every UK company director now has a legal duty to verify their identity with Companies House. It sounds like a small admin task - but the government's own system trips up a surprising number of people, and getting it wrong can delay the filings you need to make on time. This guide explains what expert ID verification for UK company directors really involves, who else it applies to, and the simplest, safest way to get it done - through directorverifications.com .

The DIY Route: Where GOV.UK One Login Often Goes Wrong

Verifying yourself directly means creating a GOV.UK One Login , downloading the GOV.UK ID Check app onto an NFC-enabled smartphone, and scanning your document's chip and your face. It works for some people - but the automated check is unforgiving. A worn passport, an older document, poor lighting, or any non-British document can all trigger a rejection. And once the system has failed to verify you, it can lock you out for a lengthy and unpredictable period - a serious problem if a filing deadline is close. We explain the fixes in our guide on what to do if GOV.UK One Login rejects you .

This is exactly why so many directors come straight to directorverifications.com instead.

Non-British Directors: Why An ACSP Is Your Only Realistic Route

Here is the single most important point in this guide. From what our customers repeatedly tell us, it is effectively impossible for a company director with non-British ID documents to get verified through the Companies House system. The government's app is built around UK documents; we hear again and again that it rejects non-British passports and overseas IDs outright - and then locks the person out. For a non-UK director, that leaves no realistic choice but to use an Authorised Corporate Service Provider such as directorverifications.com.

The good news is that this isn't a downgrade - it's a better experience. directorverifications.com verifies directors from anywhere in the world, with no GOV.UK One Login and no app. And you don't have to use a passport: many of our overseas customers verify instead with their government-issued national identity card or driving licence , which are accepted too - so you can verify with the documents you already have. If you're a non-UK national or living abroad, start with our page on ID verification for non-UK-citizen company directors .

Why "Expert" Verification Makes The Difference

Rather than relying on a single automated pass/fail check, an expert, ACSP-led service like directorverifications.com combines AI document validation with human review - so the edge cases that the government app rejects (non-biometric passports, overseas documents, older IDs) get a second look instead of an automatic failure. It's faster, more forgiving, and removes the lock-out risk entirely. Our verification partner's enterprise-grade biometric technology confirms most identities in seconds, and a trained reviewer steps in on the rare occasions it's needed.

Non-British And Non-Biometric Passports

Document type is one of the most common sticking points. The government's app verifies a passport by scanning its electronic chip - so a machine-readable passport with no chip, or many non-British documents, is frequently rejected even though Companies House officially says it accepts them. directorverifications.com validates these documents by their physical security features instead, so directors and PSCs with overseas or older passports still have a clear route to compliance. Companies House officially accepts a biometric or machine-readable passport, an Irish passport card, a UK/Channel Islands/Isle of Man/EU photocard driving licence, an EU/Norway/Iceland/Liechtenstein biometric ID card, a UK BRP or BRC, and a UK Frontier Worker permit - and directorverifications.com handles all of them.

The Directorverifications.com Verification Process

1. Choose your service and register - standard (always completed within 48 hours) or fast-track same-day - with your name, date of birth and company details.

2. Scan your ID via a secure link we email you, using your phone, laptop or desktop camera. No app to download, and no GOV.UK One Login.

3. Complete a quick face match to confirm it's really you.

4. Expert review - anything unusual gets a human check by our partner rather than an automatic rejection.

5. Submission to Companies House - we upload your verified details through the official ACSP portal, and Companies House emails your 11-character personal code directly to your inbox.

Standard verifications are always completed within 48 hours, and a same-day fast-track option is available for orders placed before 5pm, seven days a week.

It's Not Only Directors: PSCs And LLP Members Too

Identity verification applies well beyond directors. PSC verification is just as important - anyone with significant control over a company (broadly, more than 25% of shares or voting rights) must verify, even without a formal director title. LLP members are in scope too. The same simple directorverifications.com process applies: one secure scan, one face match, and submission to Companies House by an authorised provider. Verifying several people at once? See bulk director verification .

Get Your Companies House Personal Code Without The Stress

The end goal is your Companies House personal code - the reference tied to your verified identity that you'll use on every future filing. Getting there shouldn't mean risking a lock-out days before a deadline. directorverifications.com gets you there in one smooth pass, with expert backup for anything the automated system alone would struggle with.

[ Get verified with directorverifications.com for £24.99 ] - the straightforward way to meet your Companies House obligations. Our fast-track same-day service is £39.99 when you order before 5pm, seven days a week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bulk Director ID Verification for UK Companies: How It Works and Who Needs It (2026 Guide)

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:39:04 GMT

That's exactly the problem bulk director ID verification solves. This guide explains what it is, who needs it, and how to get dozens of people verified quickly and reliably - without managing each verification separately.

directorverifications.com is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) authorised by Companies House in the UK to provide identity verification to companies and individuals. That authorisation gives us direct access to the Companies House ACSP portal , so we can verify each of your people and upload their verified ID details to Companies House on your behalf - quickly, in bulk, and without any of the hurdles of the government's own system.

Why Bulk Verification Has Become a Real Problem in 2026

Identity verification at Companies House is now the law under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). It became mandatory for UK company directors, PSCs and LLP members on 18 November 2025 , with existing individuals given a 12-month transition period to comply. The same duty is being extended to limited partnership partners during 2026 . In short, almost everyone named on the Companies House register will need a personal code.

For a company with one or two directors, that's straightforward. But for a business with multiple directors - or an accountant managing dozens of client companies - the scale becomes unmanageable fast. And because verification is enforced through the confirmation statement , a single unverified director in scope can stop the whole company's statement being filed. That's a compliance risk for the company and every officer on it.

Bulk director ID verification exists to remove that risk: many people verified through one coordinated process, quickly and reliably, with nobody falling through the cracks.

Who Actually Needs Bulk Director ID Verification?

Bulk verification isn't just for large corporations. It's relevant for a much wider group than most people realise:

• Companies with multiple directors - any business with three or more directors, where coordinating verifications individually becomes a project in itself.

• Accountants and bookkeepers - juggling confirmation statement deadlines across many client companies at once.

• Company secretaries - responsible for keeping filings on track across a portfolio of businesses.

• Company formation agents - onboarding new companies where every director must be verified before incorporation can proceed.

• Law firms and solicitors - advising business clients on ECCTA compliance across their whole client base.

• Investment funds and limited partnerships - verifying multiple general partners at once (see our dedicated guide to Limited Partnership partner ID verification ).

As a rule of thumb: if you're responsible for more than two or three verifications at any one time, bulk verification is the right approach.

If your business has several directors, or you're an accountant or company secretary looking after multiple clients, you already know that chasing identity verification one person at a time is a headache. Deadlines are tight, people are busy, and here's the sting in the tail: one unverified director can block your entire company from filing its confirmation statement - holding up every other director too, even the ones who've already verified.

How Bulk Director ID Verification Works at Directorverifications.com

The process is designed to be simple for the person coordinating the verifications, and just as simple for each individual being verified.

1. Contact us with your requirements. Tell us how many directors, PSCs or partners you need verified, and we'll confirm the process and volume pricing for your numbers.

2. Each person receives a secure verification link. Every individual gets their own secure link by email. There's nothing to download, no GOV.UK One Login account, and no app to install.

3. They scan their ID and face - in 1 to 2 minutes. Each person scans their passport using the camera on their smartphone, laptop or desktop PC, followed by a quick face scan. Under two minutes per person.

4. AI verification, with human backup. Our verification partner's enterprise-grade AI checks each document in seconds. On the rare occasion the AI needs support, a trained reviewer steps in, so verifications don't get stuck.

5. We submit to Companies House on your behalf. Once verified, we upload each person's details through the Companies House ACSP portal.

6. Personal codes delivered directly. Companies House emails each individual their unique 11-character personal code straight to their own inbox, ready to use for filings. We are not sent these codes and do not store them.

Why the Companies House / GOV.UK Route is so Painful

Let's be blunt: the government's own verification service is not good, and at scale it becomes a real liability. To use it, every single person must:

• Create their own GOV.UK One Login account.

• Be told to download the GOV.UK ID Check app onto an NFC-enabled smartphone.

• Complete the whole process alone, with no coordinated way for an adviser to manage several people at once.

Worst of all, the system often fails to verify people - and when it does, we hear that it locks them out of GOV.UK One Login for an indeterminate, and very lengthy, period , with no quick way back in. For a company facing a confirmation-statement deadline, one locked-out director can jeopardise the whole filing.

By contrast, directorverifications.com - as an ACSP with direct access to the Companies House ACSP portal - gives you one coordinated process and one point of contact, no GOV.UK One Login, and no app to download , with human backup when needed and reliable handling of non-UK documents. It is simply a far simpler and easier process.

*(Tip for the web page: present this as a two-column comparison table - it's clear for readers and can win a featured snippet in Google.)*

For a fuller picture of the pitfalls of the government route, see our guide on what to do if GOV.UK One Login fails to verify your identity.

Non-British Directors: Where the Government System Really Falls Down

This is where the GOV.UK route fails most often. If any of the directors or PSCs in your group are from overseas, the government's system, from what we hear, usually rejects all non-British ID documentation - and then locks the person out. These are exactly the people who are hardest to chase for a second attempt, and there often isn't a second attempt to be had.

Here's the frustrating part: Companies House officially states that 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

but in practice its system frequently fails to verify these documents when they are non-British. directorverifications.com accepts every document on this list and, through our verification partner's state-of-the-art AI technology, reliably reads and validates non-British documents that the government app chokes on.

Crucially, once the Companies House website has failed to verify someone's ID and locked them out, they have literally no option but to use an ACSP such as directorverifications.com - which is a far simpler and easier route anyway, because we don't require a GOV.UK One Login and we don't ask anyone to download an app. For more detail, see our guide to ID verification for non-British passport holders .

Built For Accountants, Agents And Company Secretaries

If you manage compliance for other businesses, bulk verification is more than a convenience - it protects your clients' filing deadlines and your reputation. With directorverifications.com you get a single coordinated process instead of dozens of separate email chains, one invoice instead of many, and a reliable way to clear an entire client's board in one go. It's an easy value-add to offer clients, and it means you're never the reason a confirmation statement is late.

Because limited partnerships must now file through an ACSP , funds and LPs in particular benefit from having their verification and filing handled together - see the Limited Partnership guide for the specifics.

Need it fast? Same-Day Bulk Verification

Up against a filing deadline? Our fast-track service guarantees same-day completion for orders placed and paid before 5pm, seven days a week - and it’s available for bulk orders too, so a tight deadline doesn’t have to mean a missed filing.

Pricing

Our standard service is £24.99 per person (24–48 hour turnaround, often quicker) and the fast-track same-day service is £39.99 per person - see how much an ACSP costs compared with other providers . For larger bulk orders, contact us to discuss your requirements.

Get Your Bulk Verification Done Today

Whether you're an accountant managing client deadlines, a company secretary keeping filings on track, or a business with several directors to verify, directorverifications.com - an ACSP authorised by Companies House, with direct access to the ACSP portal - makes bulk director ID verification straightforward, fast and reliable. No GOV.UK One Login. No app. No chasing individuals one by one.

Start your bulk verification - £24.99 per person , or contact us to discuss your requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Limited Partnership Partner ID Verification: What the 2026 Rules Mean and How to Get It Right

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:55:56 GMT

This guide explains what limited partnership partner ID verification actually involves, what is changing in 2026, who must verify, and why using an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorVerifications.com is now the simplest and safest way to stay compliant - especially if any of your partners hold overseas passports or ID.

The 2026 Shake-Up: What's Really Changing for Limited Partnerships

Most articles on this topic stop at "verify your partners." The reality is more significant, and getting ahead of it is a genuine competitive advantage. Under ECCTA, being rolled out during 2026 through secondary legislation, UK limited partnerships must adapt to a new regime:

• All Companies House filings must be made through an ACSP. This is the big one. Limited partnerships can no longer file directly with Companies House - every statutory filing must be submitted by an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (an authorised agent registered with Companies House). Choosing your ACSP is therefore no longer optional; it's a structural requirement.

• General partners must verify their identity. Individual general partners must complete Companies House identity verification.

• Corporate general partners must name a verified "registered officer." Where a general partner is itself a company or entity, it must nominate a registered officer - an individual managing officer (such as a director) - whose identity is verified.

• Confirmation statements and 14-day updates. Limited partnerships will have to file annual confirmation statements and notify Companies House of changes to partners' details within 14 days.

• A transition period for existing LPs. Existing limited partnerships get a limited transitional window (around six months) to provide registered officer details and bring themselves into line.

In short: verification and ACSP-based filing are becoming inseparable for limited partnerships. That's exactly why partnering with directorVerifications.com early is the smart move.

What Is Limited Partnership Partner ID Verification?

Partner ID verification is the process of confirming that the relevant partners in a limited partnership are who they claim to be, to the Companies House identity verification standard . In practice, for the individual being verified, it comes down to two things:

• Their full legal name and date of birth , and

• A valid, government-issued biometric photo ID - a passport or an accepted photocard driving licence.

Once verified, the individual receives a unique 11-character Companies House personal code (a mix of letters and numbers). That code is tied to the person, not the partnership, so a partner who is also a company director or PSC elsewhere verifies only once and reuses the same code across every role.

A note on addresses. Each relevant partner's address must be provided to Companies House, but the address itself does not have to be independently verified. Because a limited partnership must file through an ACSP, directorVerifications.com submits the address to Companies House on the partnership's behalf - the partnership cannot do this itself - and there is no requirement to produce or check proof-of-address documents as part of the identity check.

Limited partnerships occupy a unique position in the UK business landscape. Unlike limited companies, they historically filed far less public information, which made it harder for regulators, banks and counterparties to confirm exactly who stood behind them. That era is ending. Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), limited partnerships face the biggest shake-up since the Limited Partnerships Act 1907 - and identity verification of partners now sits at the centre of it.

Who Actu ally Has to Verify - General Vs Limited Partners

This is where many partnerships get it wrong, and where accurate guidance matters:

• General partners (who manage the partnership and bear unlimited liability) are subject to identity verification.

• Corporate general partners must nominate a registered officer - a verified individual - rather than the entity verifying "itself."

• Limited partners (typically passive investors who contribute capital but don't manage the business) must be named and their details provided to Companies House, but they are not subject to the same identity-verification duty as general partners.

If your structure involves corporate partners, verification must "look through" to the real people who ultimately own or control that entity - the equivalent of a PSC verification - not just confirm the company's registration.

Why Partner ID Verification Matters

Compliance is no longer optional. With Companies House gaining statutory verification powers and LP-specific rules landing in 2026, failing to verify the right partners can lead to rejected or blocked filings, penalties, and - in serious cases - the partnership being removed from the register.

It closes a known fraud gap. UK limited partnerships (and Scottish Limited Partnerships in particular) have historically been exploited to obscure beneficial ownership. Robust identity checks are precisely the reform intended to shut that door.

It protects business relationships. Banks, investors and counterparties increasingly want assurance they're dealing with verified individuals before opening accounts, extending credit or signing. Verified partners speed up due diligence on every side of a deal.

It builds long-term trust. A partnership that can demonstrate a clean, verifiable ownership structure is simply easier to bank, fund and do business with.

How Verification Works in Practice (with an ACSP)

A well-run process is quick and audit-ready. With directorVerifications.com it works like this:

1. We send each partner a secure verification link. Each partner receives an email from us and clicks the "Start Verification" button, which transfers them to our ID verification partner's portal. There they scan their ID document (passport, etc.) and then scan their face - using the camera on their smartphone, laptop or desktop PC. There is nothing to download.

2. The document is validated and matched to the person. The document's security features are validated and the live facial scan confirms it genuinely belongs to the person presenting it. There is no requirement to run credit-reference or database "background" checks - verification is about proving the document is real and belongs to the individual, to the Companies House standard.

3. We submit it to Companies House on your behalf. As an authorised agent, directorVerifications.com files the verification - and the partner's address - through the Companies House ACSP portal. Because a limited partnership cannot file directly, we handle the submission, and can take care of the partnership's wider filings too.

4. Companies House issues the personal code. Each verified individual is sent their own 11-character personal code by Companies House, directly to their inbox. We are not sent the code and do not store it - it stays with the individual, who reuses it for all their roles.

Why Use an App Like Directorverifications.com for Your Partnership

Because limited partnerships must now file through an ACSP, the practical question isn't *whether* to use one - it's *which* one. directorVerifications.com gives partnerships and funds:

• One partner for verification and filing. We verify the individuals and handle the Companies House submissions, so nothing falls between the cracks.

• Bulk verification for funds and larger LPs. Rather than checking partners one at a time, we process many partners through a single, efficient workflow - ideal for investment funds onboarding multiple limited partners or a group of general partners at once.

• Speed when it counts. A same-day fast-track option means verification never becomes the bottleneck that holds up a banking approval or an investor closing.

• Expert handling of complex structures. Corporate general partners, registered officers, and PSC "look-through" are handled correctly the first time.

• No failed-verification headaches for overseas partners . Our AI-based technology reliably reads non-UK passports and international IDs that the government system often can't.

• Secure, compliant document handling by a regulated firm supervised for anti-money laundering by HMRC.

Overseas Partners and Non-Uk Documents: the Biggest Hidden Risk

Here is the issue that catches out funds and international partnerships - and one the free government route rarely warns you about. Companies House's own GOV.UK One Login verification is built around UK documents and UK addresses, and it frequently struggles with non-UK passports and foreign driving licences. The result is failed verifications for exactly the partners who are hardest to re-verify: overseas investors and non-resident general partners.

This is exactly where directorVerifications.com is different. We use a specialist third-party identity-verification partner whose state-of-the-art AI verification technology is built to read and validate non-UK documents , as well as foreign biometric passports and international ID - quickly and reliably. Where the government system chokes on an overseas passport, our technology handles it with ease.

A biometric or machine-readable passport is accepted from any nationality, so overseas partners can verify with the document they already travel on. You do not need a UK address to verify, and directorVerifications.com can verify partners from anywhere in the world.

Special Cases Worth Knowing

• Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) have separate legal personality and have attracted particular regulatory attention; the same verification and ACSP-filing expectations apply, and SLPs are a common focus of enforcement.

• Private Fund Limited Partnerships (PFLPs) used in the funds world still have general partners who must verify - the "fund" wrapper doesn't remove the obligation.

• Changes mid-life. New general partners must be verified when they join, and partner detail changes must be reported within 14 days - verification is not a one-and-done event.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Assuming limited partners must be fully verified (or that general partners needn't be). Get the general/limited distinction right, and remember corporate general partners need a verified registered officer.

• Skipping the corporate partner "look-through." Confirming a corporate partner's name isn't enough - the real individuals behind it must be identified.

• Leaving it to a deadline. Build verification into onboarding from day one so it never holds up a bank facility or an investor closing.

• Informal checks. Emailed screenshots of ID don't meet the standard; only formal, documented verification protects the partnership later.

Deadlines and Consequences

Identity verification became mandatory for company directors and PSCs on 18 November 2025. The limited partnership–specific reforms are being introduced during 2026 under secondary legislation, with a short transition window for existing LPs to provide registered officer details and comply. Because LPs must file through an ACSP and meet confirmation-statement duties, the practical work often needs to start well before any hard deadline. Non-compliance can mean blocked filings, financial penalties, and removal from the register - so acting early is the low-risk choice.

How to Get Verified with Directorverifications.com

1. We email each partner a secure verification link and they register their details - it takes 1–2 minutes.

2. Each partner clicks "Start Verification," then scans their passport and their face using the camera on their smartphone, laptop or desktop PC.

3. Our verification partner's AI technology validates the document in seconds - including non-UK passports.

4. We file the verification, and the partner's address, with Companies House through the ACSP portal on the partnership's behalf.

5. Companies House emails each partner's 11-character personal code straight to their own inbox.

Our standard service is £24.99 (usually within 24–48 hours, often quicker) and our fast-track same-day service is £39.99 when you register and pay before 5pm, seven days a week.

For funds and larger partnerships, ask about bulk verification .

Ready to verify your partners - and take the filing headache off your desk? Get started with directorVerifications.com today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Companies House Identity Verification: The Complete 2026 Guide

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:51:59 GMT

At directorVerifications.com - a service of Finovium Limited, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) - we verify UK and overseas directors and PSCs in minutes.

What is Companies House identity verification?

Identity verification confirms that the real people running and controlling UK companies are who they claim to be. It's a central part of ECCTA's drive to improve corporate transparency and make it harder to use UK companies for fraud. Once you verify, Companies House issues you a unique 11-character personal code (a mix of letters and numbers). That code is tied to you as an individual, so you verify once and reuse the same code for every role you hold and every future filing.

Identity verification became mandatory on 18 November 2025 , with a 12-month transition period for existing directors and PSCs that ends on 18 November 2026 .

Who Needs to Verify?

Verification applies to a broad group of people connected to UK companies:

• Company directors - new and existing, sole directors, and directors of dormant companies.

• Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) - anyone who owns or controls a company (broadly, holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise exercising significant influence or control).

• People forming a new company , who must verify as part of incorporation.

• Individuals acting through an ACSP , who must be verified before doing verification work.

Your nationality and country of residence make no difference - overseas and non-British directors must verify too.

→ Link to the detailed guide: “Who Needs Director Identity Verification in the UK? Rules, Exemptions and Key Deadlines”.

The Companies House personal code

The personal code is the practical output of verification - the proof you'll provide for filings. It's 11 characters, issued by Companies House after a successful check, personal to you rather than to any company, and reusable across all your director, PSC, LLP or partnership roles. You only ever verify once.

Identity verification at Companies House is now a legal requirement for the people behind UK companies. Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), directors, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) and others must prove who they are and obtain a Companies House personal code. This guide is your complete overview: what the rules are, who they apply to, which documents you need, the deadlines, the penalties for getting it wrong, and how to verify quickly and reliably. Where a topic has its own in-depth guide, we link to it so you can go deeper.

The two ways to verify - and why it matters

There are two official routes, and the documents accepted differ between them:

1. GOV.UK One Login - you verify yourself, usually via a smartphone app that scans a biometric document and takes a live selfie.

2. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorVerifications.com - an agent registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money laundering by HMRC verifies you, accepting a wider range of documents with expert oversight.

Both routes must meet the same Companies House verification standard. The ACSP route succeeds for many people the automated app rejects - which is why it's especially valuable for anyone with non-UK documents or a non-UK address.

→ Link to: “What Documents Do You Need for a Companies House PSC Personal Code?”

What Documents Do You Need?

The most reliable document for anyone is a biometric or machine-readable passport (any nationality). Beyond that, the accepted list includes EU/EEA biometric national identity cards, and UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and EU photocard driving licences. Note that driving licences from outside the UK and EU are generally not accepted - passport holders should use their passport.

Our PSC documents guide explains the two document “options,” expired-document tolerances, and proof-of-address rules in detail.

Non-British and overseas directors

The GOV.UK One Login app is built around UK documents and UK addresses, and frequently fails for foreign passports, non-UK driving licences, or overseas addresses - and a failed attempt can lock you out for weeks . You do not need a UK address to be a UK director or to verify. An ACSP can verify your identity from any country using a foreign passport, which is usually the most reliable route.

→ Link to: “Director ID Verification UK for Non-British Passport Holders: The Complete 2026 Guide”.

Key Deadlines

• New directors verify as part of their appointment; existing directors must verify by their company's next confirmation statement, within the transition period ending 18 November 2026.

• PSCs have a tight 14-day window to provide their personal code and verification statement once their deadline is triggered (often linked to the confirmation statement date or month of birth).

Because the practical trigger frequently arrives sooner than the 2026 backstop, the safest approach is to verify early.

What Happens If You Don't Verify?

Companies House has been clear that verification is a legal requirement. Non-compliance can lead to being unable to file, restrictions on appointments and filings, financial penalties at company or individual level, director disqu - potential criminal liability. Enforcement escalates from prompts, to penalties, to prosecution for the most serious cases.

How to Verify with Directorverifications.com

Register your details on our website - 1–2 minutes.
Scan your passport (or other accepted document) and let your device's camera scan your face.
Your identity is checked in seconds by our verification partner's technology.
We submit to Companies House through the official ACSP portal.
Companies House emails your personal code straight to your inbox.

Our standard service is £24.99 (within 24–48 hours, often quicker) and our fast-track same-day service is £39.99 for customers who register and pay before 5pm, seven days a week. We also offer bulk verification for accountants, solicitors and formation agents handling multiple directors and PSCs.

Ready to verify? Get your Companies House personal code with directorVerifications.com today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Needs Director Identity Verification in the UK? Rules, Exemptions and Key Deadlines

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:37:21 GMT

If you are a director, a PSC, an overseas company officer, or someone forming a new company, this guide explains who needs to verify, the limited exemptions, the deadlines that apply, and what happens if you miss them.

At directorVerifications.com , we help UK and overseas directors complete identity verification quickly, securely, and in full compliance with Companies House requirements.

What Is a Director Verification Service?

A director verification service handles the Companies House identity verification process on your behalf, so you don't have to navigate the government system yourself.

directorVerifications.com is a service provided by Finovium Limited , a firm of accountants based in West London. Finovium is registered with Companies House and HMRC as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) and is supervised for anti-money laundering purposes by HMRC. As an ACSP, Finovium is authorised to verify the identities of its customers and submit those verifications to Companies House.

We check your identity documents, carry out all the required checks, and make sure you receive your Companies House personal code - the unique code you'll need for company filings now and in the future. Using a professional ACSP reduces the risk of delays, rejected applications, and compliance problems, and ensures the process is completed correctly the first time.

The UK's corporate compliance landscape has changed significantly. Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), Companies House now requires many of the people behind UK companies to verify their identity. Mandatory identity verification came into force on 18 November 2025, and millions of directors and Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) must complete it before their own deadline.

Who Needs Director Identity Verification?

According to Companies House guidance, identity verification is mandatory for several categories of people connected to UK companies.

1. UK company directors

Every director of a UK limited company must verify their identity. This includes:

• Existing (in-post) directors

• Newly appointed directors

• Sole directors

• Directors of dormant companies

Verification confirms that directors are who they say they are and improves the accuracy and transparency of the Companies House register.

2. Overseas directors

Living outside the UK does not exempt you. Overseas directors of UK-registered companies must complete exactly the same identity verification process as UK-based directors.

3. Persons with Significant Control (PSCs)

A PSC is an individual who owns or controls a company - typically through significant shareholdings, voting rights, or the ability to exercise significant influence. If you are a PSC of a UK company, identity verification is required.

4. People forming a new company

Anyone incorporating a new company and being appointed as a director must verify their identity. Verification is now built into the company formation process.

5. People acting through Authorised Corporate Service Providers

Individuals who act as authorised agents at an ACSP must themselves be verified before they can carry out verification work for clients.

Who Benefits Most from a Director Verification Service?

While you can attempt verification independently, professional help is particularly valuable for:

• Overseas directors and non-UK residents

• Directors with expired or non-UK documents

• Start-up founders going through formation for the first time

• People who hold directorships across several companies

• PSCs with complex ownership structures

• Businesses that need to verify multiple directors at once

In all of these cases, an ACSP helps you stay compliant without unnecessary delays or rejections.

Are There Any Exemptions?

Many business owners assume their role is exempt - but the scope of the legislation is deliberately broad, and genuine exemptions are narrow.

Verification generally does not apply to:

• People who are only shareholders and are not PSCs

• Individuals with no director, PSC, or filing responsibilities

Most active directors and PSCs should expect to verify. Companies House may also extend verification to further roles as the rollout continues, so an exemption that applies today may not apply in future. If you are unsure whether an exemption genuinely covers you, it is worth getting professional guidance before assuming you are off the hook.

Key Director Verification Deadlines

Identity verification became mandatory on 18 November 2025 . What you need to do - and by when - depends on your situation.

New directors and PSCs. Anyone appointed or registered on or after 18 November 2025 must verify their identity as part of the appointment or incorporation process. In practice, you cannot be properly appointed until verification is complete.

Existing directors. Directors already in post on 18 November 2025 must verify and provide their personal code as part of their company's next confirmation statement. For many companies that filing date arrives within months, not years - so the practical deadline is often much sooner than people expect.

Existing PSCs. Existing PSCs must also verify within the transition period set by Companies House.

The backstop deadline. Companies House has set a phased, 12-month transition period with a final backstop of 18 November 2026 for existing directors and PSCs. The transition gives millions of people time to comply - but if you hold roles across multiple companies, your real deadline is the earliest confirmation statement due across all of them. Leaving it to the last minute risks avoidable delays right when you need to file.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?

Companies House has been clear that identity verification is a legal requirement, and that acting as a director without verifying is a criminal offence under ECCTA. Potential consequences of non-compliance include:

• Being unable to file confirmation statements and other documents

• Restrictions on company appointments and filings

• Financial penalties at company or individual level

• Director disqualification, or the company being struck off the register, in serious cases

• Criminal liability where there is deliberate evasion

Enforcement is designed to escalate: Companies House will typically prompt compliance first, then apply penalties, with criminal prosecution reserved for the most serious cases. The simplest way to avoid any of this is to verify in good time.

Why Use directorverifications.com?

Choosing a trusted ACSP such as directorVerifications.com makes the whole process faster and far less stressful. With directorVerifications.com you get:

• Fast, secure online verification for UK and overseas directors

• Expert ACSP support from a regulated firm of accountants

• A quick document review that reduces the risk of rejection

• A fully Companies House–compliant process

• Professional help from start to finish

Whether you're a director, a PSC, a startup founder, or an overseas business owner, we help you meet your legal obligations efficiently and correctly.

Conclusion

Director identity verification is now a core compliance requirement for UK companies. Directors, PSCs, overseas officers, and authorised agents all need to understand their responsibilities and verify within their deadlines. With enforcement now underway and the 18 November 2026 backstop approaching, the sensible move is to act early . Using a trusted provider such as directorVerifications.com simplifies the process, reduces your compliance risk, and gets it done right the first time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Documents Do You Need for a Companies House PSC Personal Code Application?

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:34:11 GMT

The single biggest cause of delays is turning up to verification with the wrong documents. This guide explains exactly which documents Companies House accepts, how the two verification routes differ, why some applications get rejected, and how an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorVerifications.com can get you verified quickly and correctly the first time.

What is a Company's House PSC Personal Code?

A Companies House personal code is a unique 11-character code (a mix of letters and numbers) issued once you have successfully verified your identity. It is personal to you - not to your company -- so you verify once and use the same code for every UK company role you hold, now and in the future.

For PSCs, the code is part of the UK's drive to improve corporate transparency and make it harder to hide behind anonymous or fraudulent company structures. Note that “personal code” is the official term; you may also see it described loosely as a “PSC code” or “ID code,” but they all refer to the same 11-character personal code.

Who Needs a PSC Personal Code?

A Person with Significant Control is an individual who owns or controls a company. You are generally a PSC if you meet one or more of these conditions:

• You hold more than 25% of the company's shares.

• You hold more than 25% of the voting rights.

• You have the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors.

• You otherwise exercise significant influence or control over the company.

• You exercise significant influence or control over a trust or firm that itself meets any of the above conditions.

If any of these apply to you, you must verify your identity and obtain a personal code. This applies to UK-based and overseas PSCs alike.

The Two Ways Your Identity Can Be Verified

Before listing documents, it helps to understand that there are two official routes, and the documents you need depend on which one you use:

1. Verify yourself via the GOV.UK One Login service (usually using a smartphone app to scan a biometric document and take a selfie).

2. Verify through an ACSP (an authorised agent such as an accountant - this is the route directorVerifications.com uses), who checks your documents against the official Companies House standard and submits the verification for you.

Both routes must meet exactly the same Companies House identity verification standard, so neither is a “shortcut” on rigour - but using an ACSP means an expert handles the documents and submission, which significantly reduces the risk of rejection.

As the UK strengthens corporate transparency requirements, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) must complete identity verification and obtain a Companies House PSC personal code . This unique code confirms that a PSC has successfully verified their identity and is authorised to be linked to UK company records.

Documents Required for a PSC Personal Code

If you verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login

You will need one photographic identity document with a biometric chip that the app can scan, such as:

• A biometric passport (from any country)

• A UK photocard driving licence (full or provisional)

• A UK biometric residence permit (BRP) or biometric residence card (BRC)

• A UK Frontier Worker permit

You then take a short video selfie so the app can match your face to the document.

If you verify through an ACSP

An ACSP can check your identity to one of two standards:

Option 1 - one document, checked by technology. A single photographic document (for example, a biometric passport, an EU/EEA biometric identity card, a UK photocard driving licence, a UK BRP/BRC or a UK Frontier Worker permit) is validated using identity document validation technology, plus a check that you match the document.

Option 2 - two documents, checked by a trained person. You provide two documents in total: either two photographic identity documents, or one photographic identity document plus one supporting document. Supporting documents include a bank or building society statement, a UK council tax statement, a utility bill, a mortgage statement, or a birth or marriage certificate. Where a supporting document is used to confirm your address, it generally needs to be recent (typically issued within the last three months).

In all cases you will also be asked for some basic information: your full name and any former names, date of birth, current home address, and your address history for the last 12 months.

A note on expired documents

You generally cannot use expired documents, but there are specific exceptions. For example, a biometric passport can be accepted if it expired within the last 6 months when checked by technology (and up to 18 months when checked manually by an ACSP), and a UK BRP can be accepted up to 18 months after expiry. If in doubt, it is always safer to use an in-date document.

How the Verification Process Works with an ACSP

The process with directorVerifications.com is designed to be quick and stress-free:

Gather your documents - have your photo ID (and, if needed, a recent proof of address) ready and clearly readable.
Submit your details - provide your information and document images through our secure online process.
Identity checks are completed - your documents are validated and your identity is confirmed to the Companies House standard.
We submit your verification - we notify Companies House through the official ACSP portal.
You receive your personal code - Companies House issues your 11-character personal code, which you then use for your PSC duties and any future filings.

As a regulated ACSP, we are also required to keep records of the checks we carry out for seven years, giving you a clear, compliant audit trail.

Key Dea dlines PSCs Should Know

Identity verification became mandatory on 18 November 2025. Existing PSCs fall within a phased, 12-month transition period with a final backstop of 18 November 2026 - and in practice you will usually need to provide your personal code and a verification statement around the time of your company's next confirmation statement. Anyone becoming a PSC after 18 November 2025 must verify as part of that process. Leaving it late risks holding up your company's filings, so it is worth getting verified early.

Common Reasons PSC Applications Are Delayed

Most delays come down to avoidable document problems:

• Using an expired or out-of-date identification document

• Blurry, cropped, or poorly lit document images

• Proof-of-address documents that are too old

• Personal details that don't match across documents (for example, after a name change)

• Incomplete information, such as missing address history

A quick, expert document review before submission removes almost all of these risks.

Why Use a Professional Verification Service?

Verifying through directorVerifications.com gives you:

• Faster, smoother processing with fewer back-and-forth corrections

• A reduced risk of rejection thanks to an upfront document check

• Expert guidance on exactly which documents meet the Companies House standard

• Secure handling of your personal documents by a regulated firm

• A fast-track, same-day option when you need your personal code quickly

directorVerifications.com is operated by Finovium Limited, a West London firm of accountants registered with Companies House as an ACSP and supervised for anti-money laundering purposes by HMRC. Whether you are a UK or overseas PSC, we make verification simple and fully compliant.

Conclusion

Getting your Companies House PSC personal code starts with the right documents. Have a valid, in-date photo ID ready - and, depending on your route, a recent proof of address - and the process is usually quick. Get the documents wrong, and you risk frustrating delays at exactly the wrong moment. Using an experienced ACSP like directorVerifications.com takes the guesswork out of it, reduces the risk of rejection, and gets your verification done right the first time.

Ready to verify? Get your Companies House personal code with directorVerifications.com today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Director ID Verification UK for Non-British Passport Holders: The Complete 2026 Guide

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:57:36 GMT

Why non-British directors struggle with the GOV.UK system

The free, direct route to verification is GOV.UK One Login - a system built primarily around UK documents and UK addresses. If you hold a non-British passport, a foreign driving licence, or a non-UK address, the automated app frequently fails to verify you. The most common problems we see are:

Foreign passports not being recognised by the GOV.UK One Login ID-check app
The NFC chip on some international passports not being read
Non-UK driving licences being rejected during the document scan
Overseas addresses causing errors in the system

There’s a bigger issue too. Once GOV.UK One Login has failed to verify your identity, that is the end of the government route: you do not get a second attempt, and you cannot fall back on the Post Office option either, whatever the Companies House website lists as available. You are locked out of GOV.UK One Login for an indeterminate period — often several weeks, sometimes several months. We know this at first hand as well as from our customers: when the government route would not verify our own director’s identity, we rang the Companies House helpline and were told plainly that the only route left was to use an ACSP. That can leave you unable to meet a legal deadline to provide your personal code, with your company’s filings at risk, through no fault of your own.

The good news: a failed GOV.UK attempt does not mean you've run out of options. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as directorVerifications.com can still verify you.

Does This Apply to Me?

Director identity verification law applies to you regardless of nationality if you are on the Companies House register. It affects a large and growing group, including:

Non-UK nationals living in the UK who are directors or PSCs of British companies
Overseas directors managing UK-registered companies from abroad
Foreign investors who hold PSC status in UK businesses
Expat directors who incorporated a UK company and have since relocated

Your nationality does not exempt you, and neither does living abroad. If you're a director or PSC of a UK company, you must verify your ID.

The Reliable Alternative: Verify Through an ACSP

directorVerifications.com is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider - an agent registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money laundering purposes by HMRC, authorised to verify your identity on your behalf. We work with a specialist third-party identity-verification partner whose technology is built to read and validate foreign passports and international documents quickly and accurately.

Crucially, the ACSP route accepts a wider range of documents than the GOV.UK app, includes expert oversight, and doesn't lock you out - which is exactly why it succeeds for the vast majority of people the automated system has rejected.

Here's How it Works:

Register your details on the directorVerifications.com website - it takes most people 1–2 minutes.

Scan your passport (or other accepted document) and let the camera on your smartphone, laptop or desktop PC take a quick scan of your face. Your scans upload to us automatically - there's nothing else for you to do.

Your identity is checked in seconds by our verification partner's state-of-the-art AI-based technology.

We submit your verified details to Companies House through the official ACSP portal.

Companies House emails your 11-character personal code straight to your inbox. Keep it safe - you reuse it for every future filing.

No app to download, no NFC-enabled smartphone required, and no risk of being locked out of the GOV.UK system.

What documents are accepted?

This is where it pays to know the rules, because the single most reliable document for a non-British director is your passport.

Passports - any nationality . A biometric or machine-readable passport from any country is accepted. This is the go-to document for non-British directors. Helpfully, the ACSP route can validate a machine-readable passport even if it doesn't have a biometric chip - so if the GOV.UK app couldn't read your passport's chip, we can usually still verify it.

National identity cards. Biometric national identity cards from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein are accepted.

Driving licences - UK and EU only . This is the key catch many people miss: Companies House only accepts photocard driving licences from the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or the EU. A driving licence from outside those areas (for example, a US, Indian, Australian or Nigerian licence) is generally not an accepted document. If your driving licence isn't UK or EU, simply use your passport instead - it's the more reliable choice anyway.

If you're a company director or Person with Significant Control (PSC) of a UK company but hold a non-British passport - or live outside the UK - you may already have hit a wall trying to verify your identity with Companies House. You're far from alone, and there is a simple, reliable way through.

Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been a legal requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). Every UK company director and PSC must verify their identity and obtain a Companies House personal code - an 11-character code unique to you - regardless of your nationality or where in the world you live. This guide explains why the government's own system so often fails non-British document holders, what documents are actually accepted, and how directorVerifications.com verifies foreign passports in seconds.

What if I Don't Have a UK Address?

You do not need a UK address to verify your ID or to be a UK company director. You'll be asked for your current home address wherever that is in the world. Because our verification is handled by an ACSP rather than the UK-centric GOV.UK app, an overseas address is no obstacle.

Key deadlines - don't get caught out

Identity verification has been mandatory since 18 November 2025, and the consequences of missing it are real: filing restrictions, financial penalties, and - for acting as an unverified director - potential criminal liability.

If you're a director. New directors must verify as part of their appointment. Existing directors must verify by the time of their company's next confirmation statement, within a transition period that ends on 18 November 2026.

If you're a PSC. PSCs have a tight 14-day window to provide their personal code and verification statement once their deadline is triggered (for many existing PSCs this is linked to the confirmation statement date or their month of birth). With foreign documents so often rejected by the GOV.UK portal , an ACSP is frequently the only realistic way to hit that 14-day deadline — which is exactly why this is one of our most-requested services.

The safest approach is to verify early, well before any deadline bites.

Need it today? Same-day verification

If your confirmation statement deadline is looming or a director appointment is time-sensitive, directorVerifications.com's fast-track service guarantees same-day completion when you register and pay before 5pm, seven days a week - your personal code lands in your inbox the same day. Our standard service completes within 24–48 hours but is often quicker than this.

Managing Several Non-British Directors? Use Bulk Verification

Accountants, solicitors and company formation agents with international clients often need to verify several directors and PSCs at once. Our bulk director ID verification service is built for exactly that - multiple people with foreign documents handled through one efficient process. No chasing clients one by one, no missed deadlines, and no last-minute panic when the GOV.UK portal rejects a foreign passport.

Why Use DirectorVerifications.com?

Built for foreign passports and international documents — our verification partner's state-of-the-art, AI-based technology reads them with ease

No lock-out risk — none of the GOV.UK One Login pitfalls

Support for UK and overseas directors and PSCs, including those with non-UK addresses

Same-day fast-track option when you're against the clock

Bulk verification for agents and accountants

Secure, fully compliant handling of your documents by a regulated ACSP supervised by HMRC

Conclusion

A non-British passport or a failed GOV.UK attempt should never put your UK company at risk. directorVerifications.com offers fast, reliable director and PSC identity verification for non-British document holders - from anywhere in the world, usually in minutes. Scan your passport, scan your face, and let us handle the rest, right through to Companies House issuing your personal code.

Start your verification today . Our standard service is £24.99 (up to 24–48 hours) and our fast-track same-day service is £39.99 for customers who register and pay before 5pm, seven days a week.