Timetable for mandatory ID verification released

Companies House has just announced that the mandatory ID verification regime will come into force on 18 November 2025. This gives more clarity for directors, LLP members, and persons with significant control (PSCs) as to when they will need to ensure they have completed IDV.

Directors

From 18 November 2025, the new regime will have the following effect for directors:

anyone appointed as a director of a company on or after this date will need to verify their ID before their appointment is filed at Companies House;
it will not be possible to incorporate a company on or after 18 November 2025 if the first director(s) has/have not completed ID verification;
existing directors of a company will need to have completed IDV before the company’s next confirmation statement after 18 November 2025 is filed; and
if a person is a director of more than one company, they will need to confirm IDV and provide their personal code in the confirmation statement for each company during the transitional period from 18 November 2025.

Persons with Significant Control

From 18 November 2025, the new regime will have the following effect for PSCs:

the mandatory IDV regime is only applying to individual PSCs from 18 November 2025 - where the PSC is a company (an RLE), the IDV rules will come into force at a later date, to be confirmed by Companies House;
individual PSCs will have a 14 day period during which they must submit a statement to Companies House confirming they have verified their ID and supplying their personal code;
the dates of this 14 day period will be different for each PSC and will depend on whether the person is an existing PSC, on 18 November 2025, and on whether they are also a director of the company;
if an individual becomes a PSC on or after 18 November 2025, their 14 day period starts from the date they are registered as a PSC with Companies House;
if a person is already a PSC of a company on 18 November 2025 and is also a director of the company, their 14 day period starts from the company’s confirmation statement date; and
if an individual PSC is not a director of the company, their 14 day period starts from the first day of their month of birth, as it is shown on the Register - for example, if that person’s date of birth is shown on the register as July 1992, the 14 day period will start on 1 July 2026.

Note that two separate notifications have to be made to Companies House confirming the person’s IDV status and supplying the personal code – PSC notification will be made using a separate service and cannot be done on the company’s confirmation statement.

Members of limited liability partnerships (LLPs)

It is expected that the new regime will also be brought into force for LLPs on 18 November 2025. If so, it will have the following effect for members of LLPs:

anyone appointed as a member of an LLP on or after this date will need to verify their ID before their appointment is filed at Companies House;
it will not be possible to register an LLP on or after 18 November 2025 if the first members have not completed ID verification; and
existing members of an LLP will need to have completed IDV before the LLP’s next confirmation statement after 18 November 2025 is filed.

IDV status on the Register

Companies House is going to show on the Register the date by which a person’s IDV has to be completed. This will be particularly helpful for PSCs where the rules for mandatory IDV are less straightforward than for directors.

IDV regime to be extended at a later date

Companies House announced that it will be bringing into force IDV rules for officers of companies which are PSCs (RLEs), limited partnerships, corporate directors of companies and corporate members of LLPs at a later date, not yet confirmed.

People who file at Companies House will also be brought into the IDV regime later, currently expected to be in spring 2026.

Action to take

The message remains the same – it is strongly advisable to complete the IDV process and obtain your personal code as soon as possible.

Make sure that everyone in the company, or LLP, who needs to complete IDV is aware of the IDV process and what information and documentary evidence is needed to do it. Make sure they are also aware of the respective deadlines for IDV.

Whilst companies aren’t responsible for their PSCs completing the IDV process, it would be sensible to ensure they know about the requirements and when they will need to confirm IDV status and supply their personal code to Companies House.

Read our recent insight article for more information on how to verify ID or contact one of our corporate solicitors.