Company administration – Companies House rules on identity verification

Companies House has published rules setting out the evidence which applicants will need to submit when applying to have their identity verified under the new requirements being introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).

The ECCTA is introducing new identity verification (IDV) requirements for all new and existing company directors (and equivalents for other entities), PSCs and those filing information with Companies House. Under the ECCTA, individuals can verify their identity directly with Companies House or through an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP).

The ECCTA itself is light on the detail of how the IDV requirements will operate in practice. These details were left to be set out in secondary legislation. The Registrar (Identity Verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers) Regulations 2025 were made in January 2025 and include provisions giving Companies House the power to make more detailed rules on IDV (see our blog post here for more details).

Companies House has now published three sets of rules, which detail the acceptable forms of evidence to be supplied, and the application processes to be followed, by applicants under the different verification routes. All applicants will need an email address. The routes are:

• using the GOV.UK app, which involves the submission of a photo of an approved form of photo ID (eg a passport) and a "selfie" via a smartphone (guidance for users of this process has been issued);
• using the GOV.UK login web service, which involves answering a series of security questions online;
• at a post office, provided that a face-to-face verification appointment has been booked via the GOV.UK website; or
• via an ACSP.  

The rules also detail the application process for approval as an ACSP.

The regulations and the rules do not address the steps that Companies House or an ACSP need to go through in order to be satisfied that the evidence submitted is true and therefore that an applicant's identity has been verified. It is possible therefore that individuals may need to comply with further steps.

The rules take effect from 25 February 2025, the date from which service providers who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to apply to become ACSPs. From 25 March 2025, individuals should be able to voluntarily verify their identity directly with Companies House, ahead of identity verification becoming mandatory for all directors and PSCs on incorporation and appointment in autumn 2025 (with a 12-month transition period for existing directors and PSCs). 

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