First convictions for missing Companies House ID checks: what it costs now, and how long is left

Companies House identity verification has stopped being a paper requirement. On 16 September 2026 City of London Magistrates' Court handed down the first convictions of directors who had not verified, in cases brought by the Insolvency Service. On 17 September the agency issued a warning to everyone else. Less than two months of the transition year remain: it ends on 18 November 2026.

Three convictions and one uncomfortable detail

Jill White (White Reading Properties Limited) was fined £166, with £85 costs and a £66 victim surcharge, for signing company accounts without verifying her identity. Modinat Banjo (J Isogony Apparel Limited) was fined £80, plus £85 and £32, for the same thing.

The third case matters most. Marc Dillon, the second director of White Reading Properties, pays £307, £85 and £123 — and his offence was not his own missing verification but failing to prevent an unverified director from continuing to act. Liability does not stop with the person who skipped the code: a fellow director who looked the other way is exposed too.

The sums are small, but these are criminal convictions rather than administrative fines. They are also the first of their kind — a signal that the letters-and-reminders phase is over.

What happens if you miss your date

Companies House starts with a default letter and 28 days to put things right. After that come fixed financial penalties on a scale: £250, £500, £750 and £1,000 for a first, second, third and fourth "minor" offence; £500, £750, £1,000 and £1,500 for a "serious" one; £750, £1,000, £1,500 and £2,000 for a "very serious" one. A penalty can be challenged in the County Court within 28 days.

If the same serious offence is repeated three or more times in five years, the case goes to court, as it did on 16 September — and there a criminal record and director disqualification are on the table alongside the fine.

Two non-financial consequences bite faster. Your company cannot file anything at the register, and you cannot incorporate a new one. And a note appears against your name on the public register, where a bank opening an account, a counterparty signing a contract or a landlord granting a commercial lease will see it.

A reminder of the deadlines

There is no single date; everyone has their own. An existing director files the personal code with the company's next confirmation statement. A PSC who is not a director files within the first 14 days of their birth month. If you are both a director and a PSC, the code is filed twice, once for each role — the second within 14 days of that same confirmation statement date. A new PSC files within 14 days of being added to the register. A director of an overseas company files by the anniversary of the UK establishment's registration. New directors have had to verify before appointment since 18 November 2025.

Verification through GOV.UK One Login is free and takes minutes: you need a biometric passport from any country, a UK photo driving licence, or a BRP, BRC or Frontier Worker permit. An expired passport is not accepted; a driving licence works within 90 days of expiry, a BRP or BRC within 18 months. Without suitable photo ID there is bank-based verification using a National Insurance number, or an in-person Post Office check. An authorised corporate service provider will do the same for a fee.

What to check today

Open your company's page on the register and look at the date of the next confirmation statement — that is your deadline. If it has passed and no code was filed, you are already late. Check every director, including nominal and dormant ones: that is exactly the profile behind the first convictions. And ask your accountant or agent whether the codes have actually gone in — owners often assume it was handled, while the agent is waiting on the owner.