Companies House ID checks are real. So are the scam emails copying them.

The first year of Companies House identity verification ends next week. Since 18 November 2025, every company director and person with significant control has had to prove who they are to Companies House, and existing directors do it when their company files its next confirmation statement. With the first full year of filings ending on 17 November, emails telling directors to “verify your identity now” are everywhere, and some of them are fake.

The real check is free, quick and done through GOV.UK. The fake ones want your passport photo, your bank details or your Companies House authentication code. Here’s how to tell them apart.

What’s real

Who	When
Existing directors	You give your Companies House personal code as part of your company’s next confirmation statement. If you’re a director of several companies, you do it for each one.
People with significant control who are also directors	Within 14 days, starting the day after the company’s confirmation statement date.
People with significant control who aren’t directors	Within the first 14 days of your birth month.
New directors and new companies	Before you’re appointed or the company is registered.

There are only two ways to verify. You can use the free Verify your identity for Companies House service, which runs on GOV.UK One Login and checks your photo ID through an app, online questions or a Post Office. Or you can ask an authorised agent, such as your accountant or solicitor if they’re registered, to do it for you. Companies House says not to post or email your ID documents to it.

Leaving it is not an option. Companies House says missing the requirement may be an offence that can lead to prosecution and a fine, and an unverified person can’t be appointed as a new director or register a new company.

What’s fake

Companies House publishes examples of scam emails it has seen. Several are about identity verification:

• An email from a Gmail address, dressed up with Companies House branding, telling you to verify your identity
• One asking you to “verify your identity within 24 hours” using a one-time reference number
• One carrying the HMRC logo, saying Companies House needs to verify you
• One saying your “application” has been submitted, with a copy to download

The pattern is the same as most phishing: urgency, a link or attachment, and a request for something you’d never normally hand over. Real Companies House emails come from addresses ending in .gov.uk. It also says it will never phone you for passwords, bank details or your authentication code.

A note you can send your directors and finance team

Companies House identity checks are real and directors need to do them, but scam emails are copying them. The genuine check is free and only happens through GOV.UK One Login or our accountant. If you get an email or call asking you to verify, pay a fee, send a passport photo or share our company authentication code, don’t click anything. Forward it to [name] and to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk, then delete it.

Worth doing this week

If you’re a director, check whether you’ve already verified: your personal code will be in your GOV.UK One Login. If you haven’t, find your company’s next confirmation statement date on the Companies House register and give yourself a few days’ margin. And if your company’s authentication code is sitting in an old email or on a sticky note, it’s worth knowing who can see it. Anyone with that code can file changes to your company.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Verifying your identity for Companies House
• GOV.UK: When you need to verify your identity for Companies House
• GOV.UK: Reporting scams pretending to be from Companies House