Company administration - Voluntary Identity Verification Commences

Individuals are now able to voluntarily verify their identity, either directly with Companies House or via an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP). This is ahead of identity verification (IDV) becoming mandatory for all new directors and persons with significant control (PSCs) in autumn 2025, which will also start a 12-month transition period for existing directors and PSCs to verify their identity.

The start of voluntary IDV follows the launch of the ACSP registration service last month (see our blog post here).

The IDV requirements are part of the changes to UK company law and administration being introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). The detail of how the regime will work is set out in The Registrar (Identity Verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers) Regulations 2025, made in January 2025, and in the Companies House rules, published in February 2025 (see our blog posts here and here).

Companies House has published guidance for individuals on the IDV process, which covers who needs to verify their identity, the different verification routes available, what happens when your identity is verified and how to use the unique identifier allocated by Companies House to verified individuals. The guidance also contains a link to the GOV.UK site through which individuals can verify their identity directly with Companies House online, as well as find out details of the alternative routes for completing the IDV process.

For more detail on the IDV requirements in the ECCTA, see our snapshot here.