Companies House identity verification: the autumn 2026 checklist for directors and PSCs

Companies House identity verification is no longer a future reform. It became a legal requirement from 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition for existing directors and people with significant control (PSCs). As autumn 2026 arrives, many small companies are entering the part of that transition where a missed personal-code step can block a confirmation statement or create a separate PSC compliance problem.

The biggest source of confusion is the date itself. Companies House explicitly says 18 November 2025 was the start of the transition, not a single deadline for everybody. Your actual requirement depends on your role, your company’s confirmation-statement cycle and, for some PSCs, the month of birth shown on the register.

Start with the role, not the anniversary date

1. Check every director before the next confirmation statement

For an existing director, the key operational event is the company’s next confirmation statement. Companies House guidance says the statement must include a Companies House personal code for each director and a confirmation that each director has verified their identity. It also says the filing will not be accepted until all directors have verified.

That means a company secretary, founder or accountant should not wait until the filing day to discover whether one director has not completed verification. Check the company’s next confirmation-statement date, list every director, and confirm that each person has both verified and can retrieve their personal code. If one person is missing, the filing process can become the point where the problem finally surfaces.

2. Do not treat director and PSC verification as the same filing

Many owner-managed companies have the same individual recorded as both director and PSC. Companies House says that person must provide the personal code separately for each role. The director connection is made through the confirmation statement. The PSC connection is made through the dedicated PSC identity-verification service.

For an existing PSC who is also a director of the same company, the PSC’s 14-day period starts on the day after the company’s confirmation-statement date. Importantly, Companies House says filing the confirmation statement early does not move that PSC window. This is useful for planning: an early company filing does not bring forward the separate PSC deadline.

3. PSCs who are not directors follow a different clock

If an existing PSC is not also a director of the company, Companies House says the personal code must be provided within the first 14 days of the PSC’s birth month, using the month shown on the register. For example, someone with a September birth month has a September compliance window rather than a deadline linked to the company’s annual confirmation statement.

This is why a single company-level compliance calendar can be misleading. A business may have one date for the confirmation statement and entirely different PSC dates. Finance or company-admin teams should maintain a small role-based register showing who is a director, who is a PSC, who holds both roles, and which verification action is still outstanding.

4. Know where the personal code comes from

Individuals can verify through GOV.UK One Login or through a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). Companies House also supports an in-person Post Office route for people directed through the online process. After successful verification, the individual receives a Companies House personal code that is used to connect that verified identity to company roles.

The practical control is simple: store the fact that verification is complete and make sure the individual knows how to retrieve the code when a filing is due. Do not put personal codes into broadly shared spreadsheets or general team chat. Companies House guidance allows people to share the code with trusted people who file on their behalf, so access should be limited to the people who genuinely need it.

5. Check the exact PSC dates rather than estimating them

Companies House says PSCs can check the dates of their 14-day period on the register, and the dedicated PSC service also shows the relevant dates after sign-in. This is safer than calculating from memory, particularly where someone has multiple company roles or where the director and PSC obligations fall at different times.

The PSC service also allows a 14-day extension request where the person cannot provide their verification details on time, but Companies House says the request must be made before the verification deadline has passed. Treat that as an exception route, not as normal planning.

A practical autumn 2026 checklist

1. Check your next confirmation-statement date and identify every director who must be verified before that filing can be accepted.
2. Create a role list for each person: director, PSC, or both. Do not assume completing one role automatically completes another.
3. For each PSC, check the actual 14-day period on Companies House instead of relying on a spreadsheet calculation.
4. Confirm that verified individuals can retrieve their Companies House personal code and that only trusted filing staff can access it when necessary.
5. If an accountant or company-formation agent is handling verification, confirm they are a registered ACSP and clarify who is responsible for supplying each code at filing time.
6. Build identity-verification checks into the preparation process for the confirmation statement rather than leaving them until submission day.
7. If a PSC cannot meet the deadline, review the official extension process before the deadline expires.

What small companies should do now

For most small companies, this is an administration problem rather than an accounting one, but the consequences sit close to finance operations because confirmation statements, statutory records, accountants and company deadlines often share the same workflow. The useful response is to add identity verification to the same compliance calendar that already tracks accounts, Corporation Tax, VAT and payroll obligations.

The transition period was designed to spread the work over a year. By September 2026, the sensible approach is to stop thinking of identity verification as a future Companies House change and start treating each outstanding director or PSC action as a dated filing dependency.