Director identity checks: the transition year ends in November

Identity verification at Companies House became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. It applies to directors — new and existing — to people with significant control (PSCs), and to members of limited liability partnerships.

The transition period

The requirement came with a twelve-month transition period, giving companies time to make sure every director and PSC verifies by their own due date. The clock started on 18 November 2025, which means the window closes this autumn.

ONLYWAY NEWSLIVETravel · 16.10Lost your passport abroad: an emergency travel document costs £125 and takes two daysMoney · 16.10Universal Credit advance: same-day answer, 24 months to repay, 3-month deferralLife · 16.10Penalty points: 12 in three years and the court can ban you for six monthsHousing · 16.10EPC explained: ratings A to G, valid 10 years, and fines for letting below EHousing · 16.10Right to Buy: a discount of up to 70% — but only £16,000 in most of LondonTravel · 16.10Overseas residents made an estimated 40.8 million visits to the UK in 2025, ONS saysHousing · 16.10Building control gets dearer in England: councils move to full cost recovery on 6 NovemberMarkets · 16.10CMA examines Microsoft’s business software ecosystem: firms can respond by 13 NovemberLife · 16.10Ofsted pilots independent complaint reviews that can set aside a school's gradesHousing · 15.10Short on rent: what replaced Discretionary Housing Payments in England on 1 April 2026ONLYWAY NEWS · appInstall the ONLYWAY NEWS appFresh UK news, classifieds, key dates and exchange rates on your home screen, one tap away. Free.NewsClassifiedsCalendarRates

An individual's deadline is tied to their own position on the register rather than to a single national date. That is why you check it against your own company, not against a date in a news story.

Why it is not a formality

The Companies House register is public, and your company's entry is visible to everyone: to a bank opening an account, to a counterparty signing a contract, to a landlord granting a commercial lease. An unverified check shows in the state of the record, and that record is the first thing anyone deciding whether to deal with you will look at. Our free checks show exactly what your counterparty sees.

What to do

Check on the official Companies House pages whether the requirement applies to you and by what date, and complete the verification if you have not. The routes for verifying are set out there; the links below go to the primary sources.