How to meet Companies House identity verification standard
How to meet our identity verification standard when verifying someone’s identity for Companies House.
When you verify someone’s identity for Companies House, you must meet our identity verification standard to comply with your legal responsibilities as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). This is also known as a Companies House authorised agent.
The following checks outline the minimum you must do to meet the standard.
Ask for information about the person
The person will need to give you their:
- full name and any former names
- date of birth
- home address
- address history for the last 12 months
- email address
Get evidence to verify the person’s identity
You’ll need to ask to see documents as evidence to verify the person’s identity.
You will need to keep copies of the documents for 7 years from the date you complete the identity checks.
You will not need to submit copies when you tell us you’ve verified someone’s identity. However, we will ask for information about the documents. You’ll need to give the:
- document reference number, or equivalent
- expiry date, if the document has one
- country of issue, if the document has one
Documents that can be used as evidence
There are 2 options for checking identity documents. The documents you can use as evidence will depend on which option you use.
You cannot use as evidence:
- documents that have expired (we specify where there are exceptions to this)
- a foreign equivalent of a document, if we’ve specified an issuing country or authority
The person will not need to verify again if a document expires after you have completed the identity checks.
Option 1
You must use identification document validation technology (IDVT) to check the documents if you use option 1.
This is technology that can help you to check the authenticity of documents when you’re verifying someone’s identity.
The person will need to provide one of the following documents. They can provide:
- a biometric or machine readable passport, or an Irish passport card – these can be up to 6 months expired if identity checking technology can still validate the cryptographic features
- a UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and EU photocard driving licence (full or provisional)
- an identity card with biometric information from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- a UK biometric residence permit (BRP) – these can be up to 18 months expired
- a UK biometric residence card (BRC)
- a UK Frontier Worker permit
Option 2
You must use option 2 if the documents are being checked by a person.
The person being verified will need to provide 2 documents in total. They must provide at least one photographic document.
They can provide either:
- 2 documents from group A
- 1 document from group A, and 1 document from group B
If the person you’re verifying does not live in the UK, they must provide at least one government issued document.
Group A
They can use:
- a passport or Irish passport card – these can be up to 18 months expired
- an identity card with biometric information from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- a UK biometric residence permit (BRP) – these can be up to 18 months expired
- a UK biometric residence card (BRC)
- a UK accredited PASS card
- a UK or EU driver digital tachograph card
- a UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and EU photocard driving licence (full or provisional)
- a UK HM Forces ID Card
- a UK HM Armed Forces Veteran Card
- a UK Frontier Worker permit
- a photographic work permit (government issued)
- a photographic immigration document
- a photographic visa
- a UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man firearms licence
- another type of photographic ID listed on PRADO - such as a National Identity Card (Pakistan), crew member certificate (South Africa), or Permanent Resident Card (USA)
Group B
They can use a:
- birth or adoption certificate
- marriage or civil partnership certificate
- non-photographic immigration document
- non-photographic visa
- non-photographic work permit
- bank or building society statement
- UK local authority or social housing rental agreement – this must be for the person’s current address
- mortgage statement – this must be for the person’s current address
- UK council tax statement – this must be for the person’s current address
- utility bill – this must be for the person’s current address
You will not need to provide a document reference number, expiry date, or country of issue for documents from group B.
Check the evidence is real
If the evidence is being checked by a person, they must be trained in detecting false documents by a specialist training provider. This could be any organisation that follows the Home Office best practice guide, including:
- Home Office (HO)
- National Document Fraud Unit (NDFU)
- National Protective Security Authority (NPSA)
You should always check identity documents for signs of tampering. You must query if there are any signs of damage to a document, especially if it’s in an area where personal details are shown.
If you have concerns about a document, contact the issuing authority or another authoritative source to check.
For documents issued by a country outside of the UK, you should contact the relevant embassy if you have concerns.
Check the identity belongs to the person claiming it
You’ll need to check that:
- the documents confirm their name and date of birth
- information held in the electronic chip matches the information on the document and the person claiming it, if you’re using IDVT to check the document
- the person physically matches the photo that is on, or goes with the document
If you are verifying the person remotely, you must make sure they are a real person. You will need to clearly see their face to compare it with the photo that is on the identity document.
1. Check their address history
The person will need to give you their address history for the last 12 months. Where possible, you should ask to see documentation to confirm the address history.
2. Check if they have changed their name
You must ask the person about any previous name changes. You should ask them to show you documentation to support any changes of name.
If they cannot show you proof of the name change, you should find out why and consider whether to verify their identity.
3. Check if they have regularly interacted with other organisations or people
To make sure the identity belongs to a real person, you should ask to see evidence of activity you would expect.
To do this, you could check:
- a bank or credit card statement for recent transactions
- utility or council tax bills, sent to the person’s home address
- if their passport has been used recently or over time
Keep records of the identity checks
You must keep records of all the evidence and information you used to verify someone’s identity. You must keep these for 7 years from the date you complete their identity verification.
This includes:
- copies of the documents you checked
- evidence of the identity checks you complete
- records of any failed verification attempts
Tell Companies House you have verified someone’s identity
Once you have verified someone’s identity, you’ll need to use our online service to:
- tell us the person’s details
- tell us which documents you used to verify their identity
- give details from the identity documents
- confirm you have completed checks to verify their identity to the required standard
You can tell Companies House you have verified someone’s identity from 25 March 2025.
Other ways to verify someone’s identity
You can use commercial identity providers or platforms to verify someone’s identity.
If you do this, you must make sure the provider or platform completes checks that meet the Companies House identity verification standard. You will still need to:
- keep copies of the documents the person provides to verify their identity for 7 years
- tell us about the identity checks and documents that were used to verify the person’s identity
We could suspend or stop an authorised agent if they use a provider that does not meet the standard.
You can also ask people to verify their identity directly with Companies House - they can do this from 25 February 2025. This is a free service. You will not need to see or keep copies of documents for people who verify using this service.
What to do if you cannot verify someone’s identity
If you have not been able to verify a person’s identity, you must still keep records of the evidence you used and checks you completed for 7 years.
It is the person’s responsibility to prove that they are who they say they are. They will need to get documents to be able to verify their identity for Companies House.
They will need to verify their identity to:
- file with Companies House
- be a director
- comply with legal requirements as person with significant control (PSC)
- apply to register as a Companies House authorised agent