Companies House Identify Verification started from 18 November 2025 with a 12 month initial compliance period, with individual obligations staggered during this period.
Companies House Identity Verification
We are coming towards the end of that 12 month period, so by now most ID verifications should be complete, or should be due in the next three weeks.
We strongly suggest taking a moment to visit Companies House and for all Companies and LLPs you are involved with check under “People” that verification requirements are complete for both Officers and Persons with Significant Control (PSCs).
Its already been noted, but bears repeating, that the two aren’t linked and if someone is both a Director / LLP Partner and a PSC – highly likely in most small businesses – then the verification needs to be entered separately for both, and on slightly different dates. Please check both tabs on the Companies House record., which is public information and can be accessed without login.
The first prosecutions for failures have already come through, this from an industry journal last week:
Companies House’s guidance says that non-compliance may be an offence, leading to prosecution and a fine through the courts, or a financial penalty. A director who carries on regardless commits an offence and could be disqualified. The government’s own campaign page adds that filings for the company can be blocked.
It has already moved from warning to practice. The Insolvency Service’s first convictions were announced on 17 September 2026, with sentencing at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 16 September. The fines were small, between £80 and £307 plus costs and surcharges. The detail is what matters:
- One director signed accounts while unverified and only completed verification about nine months after the deadline.
- Her co-director had verified, but was prosecuted for failing to take reasonable steps to stop her acting.
The takeaway is that one unverified director can create a problem for the whole board, including the people who did everything right.
(Source, Accounting Web)