The 20-Minute Job That Can Stop Your Next Filing: Companies House ID Checks for UK Founders

Some founder admin is boring but harmless. This is not that. Companies House identity verification has moved from a pilot to a gate. If you are a director or a person with significant control (PSC), an unverified status can quietly block the thing you need to do next: file your confirmation statement, appoint a new director, or keep your company record clean.

The good news is that for most people it takes less time than a supermarket meal-deal queue. The bad news is that the exceptions are fiddly, and they tend to surface at the worst possible moment. Here is the calm version.

Why this lands on your desk now

Companies House has been phasing identity verification in since 2025. What started as a voluntary check has become part of the normal rhythm of running a limited company. In 2026, if you are filing, appointing, or updating certain records, the system will expect you to be verified.

That matters because the failure mode is not dramatic. Nobody calls you. You just find that a filing you assumed would take ten minutes will not go through until the identity check is sorted. For a founder with a confirmation statement due, a bank review pending, or an investor doing light due diligence, that is an annoying place to be.

Who actually has to verify

Start with the people whose names are on the public record. Directors need to verify. People with significant control need to verify. In many LLPs, members need to verify too. The check is personal: you do it as an individual, not as a company.

That last point trips people up. You cannot verify on behalf of a co-director. You cannot ask your accountant to "sort it" unless they are acting through the correct route. Each person needs their own GOV.UK One Login and their own identity check.

If your PSC is a company rather than a human being, the route is different. Do not assume the personal process maps across. Check the current guidance before you spend an afternoon guessing.

What counts as evidence

For most UK-based founders, the easiest path is GOV.UK One Login. You will usually need a photo ID, such as a passport or a photocard driving licence, plus a smartphone for the liveness and face-match steps. The system is looking for a real person, not a perfect headshot, so decent lighting and a steady hand matter more than a ring light.

The check is free when you use the official route. If you do not have a suitable photo ID, or if your documents are not in a form the system accepts, an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP) can verify you through other means. That usually costs money. It is not a scam; it is the regulated fallback.

If you already work with an accountant or company formation agent, ask whether they are registered as an ACSP. It may save you a separate trip.

The bit founders get wrong: names and accounts

Most failed attempts are not about fraud or complex documents. They are about mismatch. The name on your passport does not quite match the name on the Companies House register. A middle name appears in one place but not the other. You set up a new email for the check and cannot remember which account is linked to your filings.

Before you start, open your company record and look at your director or PSC entry. Then look at your ID. If the names differ because of a marriage, a deed poll, or a long-standing abbreviation, fix the record or follow the correct change-of-name route first. Do not try to force the check through and hope nobody notices.

Use the same email address you use for Companies House filings where possible. Keep your One Login details somewhere sensible. And if you have multiple companies, remember that verification is personal, so you only verify once, but each company record still needs to show you as verified.

A five-day plan that will not eat your week

On Monday, list every director and PSC across your companies. Include the quiet ones: the co-founder who stepped back, the angel who holds a PSC-level stake, the family member who is on the register but not in the day-to-day. Send them a short message explaining that they need to verify personally and that it takes about twenty minutes.

On Tuesday, check your own ID and your company record side by side. Fix any name or address mismatch before you start the check. On Wednesday, do your own verification. Do not leave it until you are tired, because the liveness check has a way of failing when you are rushing.

On Thursday, chase the people who have not started. Be specific: send the GOV.UK link and tell them what they need to have in their hand. On Friday, confirm that everyone shows as verified. If someone is stuck, decide whether they need the ACSP route rather than letting the problem drift.

What to tell your co-directors

Keep it short and non-dramatic. Something like: "Companies House now needs each director and PSC to verify their identity personally. It takes about twenty minutes with a passport or driving licence. If we do not do it, filings can get held up. Can you do yours this week?"

That message works because it explains the why, the effort, and the consequence without turning it into a compliance lecture. If you are the ops-minded founder, offer to sit on a call while they do it. Not to do it for them, but to unblock the usual questions.

If you get stuck, do not improvise

The temptation when a filing is blocked is to create a new account, use a slightly different name, or upload documents through a route that is not official. Resist that. It creates a second problem on top of the first.

Use the GOV.UK guidance, speak to Companies House, or use a registered ACSP. If a co-director is overseas, they can still verify with a passport; time zones are not an excuse, but they are a scheduling issue. If someone genuinely has no accepted photo ID, the ACSP route is the grown-up answer.

The upside of being verified

Once it is done, it is done. Your public record shows that you have been verified, which is a small but real signal of legitimacy to banks, platforms, and counterparties who are paying attention. More importantly, you remove a silly single point of failure from your company admin.

Founders spend a lot of time on the exciting stuff: product, customers, hiring. This is not that. But a filing freeze caused by an unverified director is exactly the kind of unglamorous operational snag that eats a week you did not have. Do the twenty minutes. Then get back to the work that actually grows the company.