Companies House New ID Verification Rules Now Live

Whilst this requirement begins today, for most established businesses that have no changes of directors or shareholders, it will only become critical when the next confirmation statement is due, which won’t be able to be submitted until all connected individuals have obtained their codes.  Hence the reference to it being phased in over 12 months.

It will be needed sooner for company incorporations, to add new officers or shareholders that qualify as persons with significant control (PSCs) but, in any case, we urge all relevant individuals to obtain it sooner rather than later to avoid last minute panics and problems.

We strongly advocate a DIY approach to this.  Not only is it free, but it also requires the creation of a GOV.UK One Login if you do not already have one.  This login over time will become the overarching entry point to all government digital services, and individuals can already attach to it their DVLA record for driving licence renewals, MOT/car tax reminders and Lasting Power of Attorney appointments amongst others, so likely needed at some point anyway.

Each individual only needs one code.  The single code can be attached to all companies they are a director or shareholder of.  Our clients will need to send us their codes once obtained so we can log it on our systems to be able to support ongoing Companies House compliance.

For our clients who are unable to obtain a code by this route, we can assist via a separate identity service we subscribe to, but this will incur a fee and will require essentially all the same data.

Some people will see this as ‘big brother’, but the law has been enacted, so there is no option but to comply.  Its intention is to reduce fraud and cloning, and to make sure people are real and not made up.  It will also likely “tidy up” Companies House data, merging records for the same person, which are currently fragmented due to minor typographical errors, or different addresses.

Companies House guidance can be found here:

Verifying your identity for Companies House – GOV.UK

And this page which is both where you login and tells you what is and isn’t linked at this stage.  You can also create your GOV.UK One Login here:

Using your GOV.UK One Login: Sign in to your GOV.UK One Login – GOV.UK

As always, our team are here to answer any questions you may have. Please do contact us if you have any questions or call us on 01276 61203