Every Company Director Must Verify Their Identity by November: A Guide for Directors

There is a quiet compliance deadline heading towards every company director, and a surprising number have not yet acted on it. Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA), Companies House now requires directors and people with significant control to prove who they are. For millions of existing directors, the clock runs out on 18 November 2026.

This is not optional and it is not just for new companies. If you are a director of a limited company — even a small family business you set up years ago — this applies to you.

Why this is happening

For decades, almost anyone could be appointed to a UK company without ever proving their identity. That made Companies House an easy tool for fraud. ECCTA changes that by giving Companies House real powers to check who is really behind a company. Identity verification is the centrepiece: a one-off confirmation that you are who you say you are.

Who has to verify

Three groups are in scope, and Companies House estimates six to seven million people fall into the first two:

• Company directors — every one, existing and new.
• People with Significant Control (PSCs) — typically anyone owning or controlling more than 25% of a company.
• Anyone who files at Companies House on a company’s behalf, including agents and presenters, though the mandatory date for that group has been pushed back to later in 2026.

The deadlines that matter

There are two dates to keep in mind:

• Since 18 November 2025 — identity verification has been mandatory for every new director and every new company incorporation. If you have set up a company in the last few months, you will already have been through it.
• By 18 November 2026 — every existing director and PSC must be verified. In practice, most existing companies verify around their next confirmation statement after the transition window opens, so your personal deadline may effectively be sooner than November. Your directors need verified status before that statement can be filed.

The practical takeaway: check when your company’s confirmation statement is due. That, not the headline November date, is often the real deadline.

How to verify

There are two main routes:

• Directly through GOV.UK One Login. You confirm your identity online using photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, much like other government digital services. It takes most people around fifteen minutes.
• Through an authorised agent (an ACSP). Accountants and other registered professionals can verify your identity on your behalf and confirm it to Companies House. For clients who would rather not deal with the online process, this is often the simpler path.

What happens if you ignore it

This is where directors need to take it seriously. Failure to verify is a criminal offence. The director, the PSC and the company itself can each be prosecuted. Sanctions range from civil penalties and unlimited fines to, for serious or repeated breaches, director disqualification. Beyond the penalties, an unverified director will not be able to file, which can freeze routine company activity at the worst possible moment.

Don’t leave it to the autumn rush

With six to seven million people needing to verify, there is every chance of a bottleneck as the November deadline nears. Our advice to Kent directors is simple: get it done in good time, ideally well before your next confirmation statement, so it never becomes a last-minute problem. It is a one-off task — a small amount of effort now for complete peace of mind.

How MCC Partners can help

We are guiding our director clients across Gravesend and Kent through this step by step: checking who in your company needs to verify, flagging when your confirmation statement falls due, and, where you would prefer, verifying your identity for you as your authorised agent. If you are a director and you are not sure whether you have done this yet, the answer is almost certainly worth checking.