If you are a company director in Northern Ireland, there is a new legal requirement you cannot ignore: you have to verify your identity with Companies House. It is one of the biggest changes to how UK companies are run in a generation, and a lot of directors are only finding out about it when a filing is blocked or a letter arrives.

This guide explains what identity verification is, who it applies to, when you have to do it, and the two ways to get it done, including the shortcut most of our clients are choosing.

Why this is happening

Companies House used to take company information largely on trust. Anyone could be registered as a director under almost any name, with no check that the person was real. That made UK companies an easy vehicle for fraud and money laundering.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act changed that. Companies House now has the power to verify who is actually behind a company, and identity verification is the mechanism. Every director and every person with significant control has to prove they are who they say they are.

Who has to verify

Two groups are in scope:

  • Company directors. Anyone appointed as a director of a UK limited company.
  • People with significant control (PSCs). The individuals who ultimately own or control the company, usually anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights.

If you are both a director and a PSC, which is the case for most owner-managed NI companies, you verify once.

The rollout runs in stages:

  • New directors and new companies. If you are forming a company or being appointed as a director now, identity verification is already required as part of the process.
  • Existing directors and PSCs. You are being brought into the regime over a transition period, and Companies House prompts you around the date of your annual confirmation statement. So your personal deadline depends on when your confirmation statement falls.
  • Agents who file for companies will also need to be verified in order to keep filing.

The practical takeaway: if you run an existing company, find out when your next confirmation statement is due, because that is roughly when your verification needs to be done.

The two ways to verify

There are exactly two routes, and you choose.

1. Verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login

Companies House lets you verify directly, free of charge, using the GOV.UK One Login service. You create an account, provide a photo ID document, and complete an identity check, often using an app to scan your passport and your face.

For directors who are comfortable with government digital services and have their ID to hand, this works. The cost is your time and a little patience with the process.

2. Have an ACSP verify you

The alternative is to have an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) do it for you. An ACSP is a firm that Companies House has registered, and that is supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes, specifically to carry out these identity checks and confirm them to Companies House.

Arro Group is a registered ACSP. That means we can verify your identity directly, confirm your verified status to Companies House, and, if we handle your filings, act as your verified agent going forward. We carry out verification in person at our Belfast office. Where we already know you personally, we can arrange a secure video call instead. You do not need a GOV.UK One Login account, and the appointment takes only a few minutes.

Bring a valid passport, or a UK or Irish driving licence. Those are the only documents we accept for verification, so please check yours is current before you come in.

This is the route most of the directors who come to us are choosing, for three reasons: they would rather have it done properly by a professional once than risk getting it wrong, they do not want to set up another government login, and they want the certainty that it has actually been recorded correctly at Companies House.

What to do now

  1. Check whether you are in scope. If you are a director or a PSC of a UK company, you are.
  2. Find your confirmation statement date. For an existing company, that is roughly your personal deadline. New appointments and formations need it straight away.
  3. Choose your route. Verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login, or have us do it as your ACSP.
  4. Do not leave it to the last minute. Verification that is not completed in time can block your filings and, ultimately, your ability to act as a director.

How Arro Group can help

We verify directors and PSCs as a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider, whether or not you are an existing client. If you are forming a new company, verification of the directors and shareholders is built into our company formation and secretarial service. If you just need to get verified before your deadline, our director ID verification service is a standalone, fixed-fee appointment.

If you are not sure where you stand, the quickest thing to do is ask. Tell us your company and we will tell you who needs verified and by when.

Contact us or call 028 9508 4138.