Compliance
What Is a Person with Significant Control (PSC)?
Understand what a Person with Significant Control (PSC) is, the 25% rules, who qualifies as a PSC and what you need to tell Companies House.
Companies House Identity Verification: A Step-by-Step Guide for Founders
Learn how to verify your identity for Companies House, and how verification works when you form or import a company with FOUNDRS.
By Callum Sommerton6 October 20266 min read
Identity verification is now part of setting up and running a UK limited company. If you're a director or a person with significant control, you need to prove who you are and make sure that verified identity is connected to the roles you hold.
For a solo founder, that can mean dealing with two roles in the same company: director and owner.
The process is manageable once you understand the steps. This guide explains how to verify your identity, what your Companies House personal code is for, and why FOUNDRS also requires identity checks to establish that you're a company director before making filings on your behalf.
What is Companies House identity verification?
Identity verification is a check that confirms you are the person you claim to be. It's part of the Companies House reforms designed to reduce fraud and improve trust in the companies register.
The requirement became mandatory on 18 November 2025, with a transition period for existing directors and people with significant control. Your deadline depends on your role and when you took it on.
There are two parts to completing the requirement:
Verify your identity and receive your Companies House personal code.
Provide that code for each relevant role so Companies House can connect your verified identity to its records.
Who needs to verify their identity?
For most founders running a limited company, the relevant roles are:
Directors: the people responsible for managing the company.
People with significant control (PSCs): the people who ultimately own or control it.
If you're the sole director and own all the shares in a straightforward company, you'll normally be both. You generally verify your identity once, then use the same code for both roles.
Being a shareholder doesn't automatically make you a PSC. Read our guide on what a person with significant control is if you're unsure which rules apply to you.
What Is a Person with Significant Control (PSC)?
Why founders can get caught out
Our August 2026 report, explores why a straightforward identity check can still create problems for small company owners.
Produced with chartered accountancy practice Joshua Leigh & Co, the report draws on published data and the firm's experience helping clients through verification. The firm identified tracking the different deadlines as a bigger challenge than the identity check itself. It also reported that some clients didn't realise a separate PSC submission was required.
For a solo director-owner, the practical lesson is to check both roles and their deadlines, even after you've received your personal code.
How do you verify your identity for Companies House?
You can use the free GOV.UK service or an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), such as an authorised accountant, solicitor or company formation provider.
Option 1: Verify directly through GOV.UK
Start with the Verify your identity for Companies House service. You'll sign in to, or create, a GOV.UK One Login and answer questions about yourself.
Depending on your circumstances, you'll be guided to use an app, answer security questions online or complete an identity check at a participating Post Office.
For online photo ID verification, accepted documents include a biometric passport from any country or a UK photocard driving licence. Certain UK biometric immigration documents are also supported. You'll need your current address and the year you moved in.
If you don't have a supported document, the service will explain whether another route is available. Eligible UK residents may be able to use bank or building society details, their National Insurance number and security questions.
Use an email address that's personal to you: the same email address cannot be used to verify several people's identities through One Login.
Option 2: Verify through an authorised provider
An ACSP carries out the required checks and tells Companies House that your identity has been verified. Providers may charge for this service.
You'll supply the identity evidence the provider requests. After the process is completed, Companies House sends your personal code to the email address supplied for you.
An accountant holding a copy of your passport isn't, by itself, confirmation that this Companies House process has been completed. Check that they're authorised and that they have submitted the verification. Read how verification through an ACSP works.
FOUNDRS is a registered ACSP and supports identity verification through its incorporation and company import journeys.
What is a Companies House personal code?
Your personal code is an 11-character identifier issued after successful verification. It belongs to you, so you can use it across multiple company appointments.
If you verified through GOV.UK One Login, sign in to Companies House with the email address you used and look under Manage account.
If an ACSP verified you, the code is emailed to the address it supplied. If it hasn't arrived, contact the provider to check that address. You can also save an ACSP-issued code to a Companies House account.
Keep it secure and only share it with trusted people who need it to make filings for you.
How identity verification works with FOUNDRS
FOUNDRS requires identity verification to establish who you are and check that you're a director of the company you want to manage. This helps us establish your authority to instruct FOUNDRS to make company filings on your behalf.
There are two related checks here: confirming your identity and confirming your connection to the company. Proving who you are alone doesn't establish that you can act for a particular company.
Starting a new limited company
FOUNDRS includes identity verification in its incorporation journey, alongside the information needed to register your company: its name, address, directors, shareholders and share structure.
That puts the check into the wider setup process, while you're preparing the information Companies House needs and identifying who will be responsible for the company.
Read our guide if you're still working through those decisions.
How to Register a Limited Company in the UK
Bringing an existing company into FOUNDRS
If you are a solo founder and your company is already registered, you can import it into FOUNDRS. Identity verification is a required part of that journey so we can check who you are, establish that you're a director of the company and confirm your authority to have us make filings on its behalf.
Once you've brought your company into FOUNDRS, you can use its company management tools, including document storage and compliance assistant, and make supported filings through the platform, such as confirmation statements and registered office address changes.
FOUNDRS still requires its own identity and director checks when you import a company, so we can establish your authority to use the filing services. These checks serve a separate purpose from obtaining a Companies House personal code.
For the wider responsibilities involved, see what happens after you register a limited company.
