Companies House: Identity Verification (IDV) update

The most wide-reaching and significant part of the Companies House reforms is now live and the Companies House IDV portal is now open. See here.

All current directors, LLP members, PSCs and corporate representatives will need to verify their identity with Companies House. See our previous article on IDV here.

We need to collect and store codes for all of our company secretarial clients so that from Autumn 2025 (when IDV becomes compulsory) we can continue to file documents relating to:

• Newly appointed directors and newly registered PSCs.
• New company incorporations.
• Confirmation statements (CS01s) on a rolling timetable as they fall due.

IDV checks need to be undertaken by individuals themselves via the Companies House portal.

What will be happening

A single contact for each client will be emailed in the coming weeks notifying them of the individuals in their organisation whose codes we need and requesting that they coordinate the code collection. The email will be issued from the email address IDV@geraldedelman.com.

As this is time critical, all company secretarial clients should be prepared to receive the email and act promptly to return the codes to us.

In order to verify their identity, each individual will need to:

• Set up a GOV.UK One login account using their own email address.
• Have original biometric identity documents (e.g. passport) to hand.
• Use their mobile phone and download the GOV.UK app.
• Use the app to scan their passport (or other biometric document) and its facial recognition to match them to their passport.
• For any clients struggling with the technology (or with an outdated mobile phone) there is an option for checks to be undertaken with the Post Office (similar to their ‘check and send’ service for passports).

Any questions on individual IDV checks will need to be directed to Companies House on: 0303 1234 500, enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk.

For individuals who don’t want to complete the IDV checks themselves, as a registered ACSP, we will be offering an alternative whereby our Compliance Team undertake checks. Because of the complexity and associated risks, there will be a fee per person of £200. For more information, please email the team on IDV@geraldedelman.com.