Companies House identity verification is a legal check on the people behind UK companies. Directors, people with significant control (PSCs) and anyone applying to be an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) must pass it. Each person verifies once, gets a personal code, and gives that code for every company role they hold by that role's due date.
There are two routes: GOV.UK One Login, or an ACSP, typically an accountant or solicitor (Companies House, 3 November 2025). Only a firm with an anti-money laundering (AML) supervisor can register as an ACSP (guidance on using an ACSP), so for accountants who already do AML and secretarial work, this is a new regulated service line.
I am not an accountant and I do no compliance work, so my part here is how a practice wins this work. This is not legal advice.
What is Companies House identity verification and why did it change?
The rule comes from the 2023 ECCTA (Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act), which bars a director from acting until verified. It also adds checks for PSCs and brings in authorised corporate service providers. Companies House says the aim is to deter illegal use of companies (collection page). Verification has 2 stages (non-compliance approach): a check issues the code, then a verification statement ties it to a company role.
Who must verify identity for Companies House?
Directors, PSCs and ACSPs are in scope now (verification overview). Verification for people who file, corporate directors, limited partnerships and some other roles comes later. The code is personal and not tied to a company (personal codes guidance), so a director of 4 companies verifies once and gives the same code 4 times.
Due dates, from the timing guidance:
| Role | When the code is due |
|---|---|
| Existing director | With each company's next confirmation statement |
| Director of a new company | In the incorporation filing |
| Director who is also a PSC of the same company | Director code in the confirmation statement; PSC code through the PSC service within 14 days, starting the day after that statement date |
| PSC who is not a director there | In the first 14 days of their birth month |
| PSC added after 18 November 2025 | On being added, or within 14 days of it |
| Person applying to be an ACSP | Before the application |
When does the transition period matter for accountants and clients?
Verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, opening a 12-month transition for existing directors and PSCs to verify by their own due dates (verify your identity guidance). That window closes in November 2026, so the last existing directors and PSCs are only weeks from their dates. There is no single deadline.
A practice tracks clients person by person and role by role, and new appointments keep needing checks afterwards.
Missing a date is serious: a director who acts unverified breaks the law, and so may the company. Companies House sends a default letter, may then enforce without further notice, and lists prosecution, Insolvency Service referral and financial penalties as its main routes (non-compliance approach).
What is an ACSP and who can register as one?
An ACSP, also called a Companies House authorised agent, is usually an accountant, solicitor or company formation agent. The applicant verifies their own identity first. The rules for authorised agents then require:
- a UK AML supervisory body for the firm
- a senior person in the firm making the application
- notice of any change to the agent's details within 14 days
For now, only agents that will verify clients need to register. Companies House says agents will be able to file for clients from no earlier than November 2026, and that businesses will in future need this registration to file for clients.
The public list of ACSPs is opt-in, so it may miss registered firms. It is also not updated on a set schedule, so it may be out of date. Don't treat it as a count of your competitors. A separate list shows ceased and suspended agents, who cannot act.
What market does this open for accountants?
A narrow one, and you can size it yourself. More than 1 million people had verified by the 3 November 2025 release, after voluntary verification opened in April 2025.
For a denominator, the Companies House register statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 put the effective register at 4,930,634 companies, or 5,479,045 including companies being dissolved or liquidated. Those count companies, not people. So count your own clients' directors and PSCs still to verify, plus every new appointment.
Companies House gives no fee benchmark: GOV.UK says an ACSP "may charge a fee" without amounts, and the One Login route is free of charge (verification overview).
A fee for the bare check competes with free; a fee that includes tracking every role's due date does not. One structure that follows: charge once per person for the check, and per company per year for tracking roles and collecting codes. Most firms that struggle to sell a service like this have a packaging problem before they have a lead problem.
Companies House may also point people to an ACSP such as an accountant (non-compliance approach), and Companies House itself notes that a professional who already files for someone may already hold their ID documents, which makes the check quicker (Companies House blog, December 2025). For winning clients beyond this one service, how accounting firms get new clients beyond referrals covers buyer titles, channels and capacity.
How should a practice reach clients and lookalike companies?
Who to contact first
When I plan outreach, I look at a client's past and current customers before anyone new. For a practice, that gives this order:
- current clients you file confirmation statements, PSC changes or incorporations for
- past clients, such as companies you formed whose filings later moved elsewhere
- firms that look like your best current clients: same company type, same kind of owner, a similar number of directors and PSCs
Smaller practices that also keep books can weigh this against the ways to find bookkeeping clients, ranked by speed.
Before any outreach, pick the market by the same customer-first test. Other service firms can follow the same customer-first approach, as consultants hunting for clients do.
The one-line offer
I watch B2B firms list every service for every buyer at once and then wonder why nothing lands. My rule is one offer to one audience, held for 12 months. For a practice, one line could be: "identity checks and role tracking for owner-managed companies." Keep it after the transition closes, when the work shifts to new appointments.
What to send a company that is not your client
Existing clients hear about it in a normal service email. For a lookalike company, write to one named director, by email or LinkedIn. An example of the whole message:
"Your directors give their Companies House personal code with your next confirmation statement, and a PSC who is not on the board has a separate date. A registered agent can run the check remotely, and Companies House emails the code straight to the person. Want me to list which of your people still have a date coming up?"
Plan on 5 to 6 touches across LinkedIn and email, not one. In our campaigns the third follow-up usually performs best, as long as each touch gets real time before the next. To split a lookalike list into groups first, see how to segment a cold email list.
What does Companies House expect an ACSP to do during verification?
Every check must meet the full identity verification standard. In order: collect the person's details, get identity evidence, test that the evidence is genuine, confirm the identity is real and belongs to that person, record the checks, then decide. No step can be skipped.
Checks can run remotely or face to face, and a commercial platform is allowed if it covers every step and the firm can evidence why it fits. Records stay for 7 years from completion. Companies House says these checks differ from customer due diligence (reporting a verification), so a completed CDD file is not enough on its own, and checks below the standard can get a firm suspended.
Which service model should an accountancy firm choose first?
| Model | What the firm does | What it needs | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-verification support | Explains the free GOV.UK One Login route, tracks due dates, collects codes | No ACSP registration | The firm has no AML supervisor, or few clients need hands-on help |
| ACSP verification | Verifies clients and reports each check through the agent account | AML supervision, registration, the standard, record keeping | The firm is supervised and clients want the check done for them |
| Ongoing compliance support | Verification plus role tracking, statements and, once allowed, filing as an agent | All of the above, plus a calendar for every person and role | The firm already runs secretarial work and filings |
Read the last column as the decision rule. If you already file confirmation statements for many companies, aim for the ongoing model, since the planned filing right comes through the same registration.
Ready to register? Check that:
- your AML supervisor is confirmed in writing
- the applicant has verified their own identity
- a written process covers each stage of the standard
- an evidence note justifies any platform you use
- one named person owns record retention and the 14-day change notices
What should accountants do next?
Count the people and roles in your current clients first. Do that before you buy a list or write a message. That number tells you whether this is a service line or a favour, and which of the three service models above to start with.
If you run a practice and cannot tell whether ID verification is a real service line yet, book a call and bring your client count. We can size the opportunity before you spend on marketing.
Questions accountants ask about ACSP verification
What does the public register show after an ACSP verifies someone?
Once the person links their verified identity to Companies House records, a verification statement appears on the public register. It shows their name, the verification date, the ACSP's name and the AML supervisory body the ACSP is registered with. Your firm's name becomes part of the client's public record.
What if a client's personal code email never arrives?
Companies House says the email usually arrives within a few hours and can land in spam or junk, so look there first. If the address the ACSP gave was right and still nothing came, the client can contact Companies House, ask for the ACSP team and have the code resent.
Can Companies House give a PSC more time?
Yes, within limits. Its non-compliance guidance says the registrar can extend a PSC's due date by up to 14 days, and a PSC with an extension stays compliant.
What happens if a personal code is shared or compromised?
Companies House can replace a shared or compromised code, emailing the new one and cancelling the old. Clients verified through an ACSP should save the code to their Companies House account. If the details behind a code do not match Companies House records, the guidance lists an ACSP submitting incorrect details as one cause, so recheck what your firm reported first.