What do I do about this email from Companies House asking for ID?
Why do Companies House need to check my passport?
Until now it has been extremely easy to register a company with Companies House with very little in the way of verifying who is setting up the company and where they are based. There have been issues with many companies being set up at the homes of people that are unaware that this was happening, trading fraudulently then moving on. until now Companies House have been powerless to prevent these sorts of things from happening.
Therefore the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has been put in place to deliver additional powers to Companies House so that they can more easily control who is registering companies in the first place and ensure that they can deal with any issues and remove any companies that are operating illegally.
Existing directors will have noticed the significant increase in Companies House fees and changes to the annual confirmation statements that came in last year but Companies House is soon to introduce a further series of measures.
The first of these is to biometrically check the identity of every director and Person of Significant Control held by Companies House. This is due to become mandatory in the Autumn, however they are starting to contact directors now so you may receive an email from them asking you to set up an account with them and download an app that will scan your passport or photo driving licence and match it to your face through taking a selfie!
Its worth noting that if you are eligible for a passport or driving licence with biometric tags but you haven't applied until now, you will need to apply for this exercise. For example, if you are eligible for a photo driving licence but still only have a paper version you may find that you need to obtain your new ID before you can confirm your ID.
Instead of using the Companies House app to scan your ID, you may be able to ask your accountant or solicitor to do this for you. However, they must be approved by Companies House to perform ID checks and it is highly likely that they will need to use a very similar app to run the process. As usual, they will charge a fee as well.
If you aren't able to use the app you will need to get your ID verified using an Authorised Corporate Service Provider who is permitted to perform a manual check of you identification. However, if they wish to offer this as a service, Companies House require the individual ACSPs to attend rigorous training in detecting fake ID and its unlikely that your local accountant will be sufficiently qualified to do this!
This is a very new process so there may be teething troubles along the way. However, I have been through the ID check routine for my own business and once I set up the new Companies House account, it was fairly straightforward to run through the ID check process.
Companies House are gradually providing more information as to how the process will work after it becomes mandatory from 18 November 2025.
What else do I need to do?
Once you have verified your identity with Companies House you will be given a personal code. This allows you to confirm your identity has been verified if you are involved with more than one company as it is personal to you. You will need to confirm the personal codes for each relevant company officer or PSC when completing the annual confirmation statement, each role will need to be confirmed separately. If you are both director and PSC, you will need to add your personal code for the two roles separately. You therefore need to keep your code safe and only share it with the person who is completing the confirmation statement for the company.
As a PSC, you must use a separate online service to provide your personal code within 14 days of your company’s confirmation statement date. This service will be available from 18 November 2025. PSCs will also be able to use the service to check their individual 14-day verification due date.
If you are a PSC but not a director, you’ll need to provide your personal code within the first 14 days of your birth month. For example, if your date of birth is 22 January, your 14 day period will begin on 1 January.
How do I find my personal code?
If you verified using the GOV.UK process directly, sign in to Companies House and go to ‘Manage account’ to view your code. You’ll need to sign in using the same email address you used when you verified. If you used an ACSP to verify your ID, your personal code will have been sent to them directly so contact them to access it.
Find out more about your personal code here.
