With confirmation statement deadlines approaching for many companies, it’s essential that all directors and people with significant control (PSCs) have verified their identity in advance and are ready to provide their personal codes.
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With confirmation statement deadlines approaching for many companies, it’s essential that all directors and people with significant control (PSCs) have verified their identity in advance and are ready to provide their personal codes. Below is a clear overview of the process, along with practical guidance on how accountants and Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) can support their clients.
Identity verification for Companies House involves two separate steps, both of which must be taken for identity verification to be completed. Depending on your arrangements with clients, you may be responsible for supporting one or both steps.
If you are registered as an ACSP and are verifying a client’s identity on their behalf, you must inform Companies House of the checks you’ve completed using the ‘Tell us you’ve verified someone’s identity’ service.
It’s crucial that the details on the client’s identity documents exactly match the information held by Companies House. Any mis-match, such as an incorrect date of birth, will prevent the client from completing step 2 successfully.
Once a verification statement is submitted, Companies House will generate a unique 11-character personal code for your client and email it to the email address provided. This should be your client’s email address, not your firms.
Alternatively, your client can verify their identity independently using GOV.UK OneLogin.
Once verified, the verified identity must be linked to each role that person holds using their personal code. The personal code must be provided separately for director and PSC roles and for roles in multiple companies. Verification deadlines vary, so check the Companies House register to confirm when the code needs to be provided for each role.
If you verified someone’s identity as an ACSP, the personal code is sent to the email address you provided. If the email wasn’t received or the wrong email address provided, the ACSP must contact Companies House to request it be re-sent.
To store their personal code for future use, clients should:
Once completed, the personal code will be saved to their account ready for future filings.
Directors must provide their personal code as part of their company’s next confirmation statement filing or as part of the registration filing for new companies.
If your client’s confirmation statement is approaching, make sure that:
Filings will be rejected if personal codes are missing or if names and details do not match precisely.
A PSC must provide their personal code using the Provide identity verification details for a person with significant control (PSC) service. Each PSC has a 14-day period to do this, and the code cannot be submitted before this period begins. You can check PSC-specific deadlines on the Companies House register.
The 14-day period depends on the PSC’s circumstances:
Companies House publishes a public list of registered ACSPs on GOV.UK to help customers find professional services. The list is updated periodically rather than after every submission.
Complete this short form now to give consent to be on the public ACSP list. You must be an account owner for the ACSP to do this.
