Understand Your Verification Position Before You Proceed

Keep the stages separate

Completing identity verification does not itself appoint you as a director. Companies House issues the Personal Code after successful verification, while the company or its authorised professional must still complete the applicable appointment filing and ensure that the Companies House record reflects the appointment.

Joining an Existing UK Company as a New Director?

Proposed Director: Establish the Appointment Position

First establish which existing company you are joining and whether the proposed appointment has been properly authorised. The company, director or authorised professional should then establish whether identity verification remains incomplete, whether Companies House has issued your Personal Code, whether that code must be supplied with the appointment and whether the appointment filing is still outstanding.

These checks should be treated as a sequence rather than as one combined transaction. Successful identity verification does not itself appoint you as a director. The appointment remains a separate corporate event.

Director Appointment and the Separate PSC Role

Establish the Director Appointment

Before the appointment filing is made, the proposed appointment should be properly authorised and the appointment information should be accurate. Where identity verification remains required, that stage should be completed through the applicable route and the Personal Code obtained from Companies House.

The Personal Code is then provided for the director role where required by the applicable Companies House process. The filing itself remains separate. Identity verification does not by itself update the company’s register.

Director and PSC: One Individual, Two Roles

• The director role concerns appointment to the company’s management structure.
• The PSC role concerns significant ownership or control.
• The same individual may hold both roles.
• Identity verification is not ordinarily repeated merely because the individual holds both roles.
• The Personal Code remains personal to the verified individual.
• The code must nevertheless be connected to each applicable role through the correct process.
• Completing the director appointment does not automatically complete the PSC requirement.

Choose the Appropriate Director Identity Verification Route

Use the route that fits your circumstances. Ask about document suitability if you are unsure; suitable published services remain available to order. An enquiry creates no obligation.

Company types and roles: which guidance applies?

Company-Form Context

For a natural-person director within the current regime, the company’s legal form does not remove the identity-verification requirement. The requirement can therefore apply to directors of private companies limited by shares, private companies limited by guarantee, unlimited companies, public companies and other registered company forms that appoint natural-person directors.

Do not assume that every corporate structure has directors or follows an identical appointment process. If the role is an LLP member, general partner or another officer rather than a company director, use the appropriate entity-specific route.

If you are becoming a director

If you are joining an existing company, check accepted verification before starting another check. Your personal code is supplied through the applicable appointment filing. Verification establishes identity; the company’s approval and appointment arrangements remain separate.

For an appointment, follow the appointment completion guidance. If you are already a director, use the existing-director route instead.

Personal help with an unclear or interrupted check

If an invitation is missing, a photograph will not capture clearly, a check stops or names do not match, contact your personal manager. Describe whether the invitation arrived, the last step reached, any message shown, your document type and issuing country, and any access difficulty. You do not need to diagnose the technical cause.

Your manager reviews the position and explains the supported next action. An interrupted check, an unsuccessful assessment and a missing personal code are different situations; none automatically means you should buy another check. If an invitation looks doubtful, confirm it with Coddan through the published contact details before using it. Do not rely on a displayed sender name alone.

If using a camera or completing liveness checks may be difficult, ask about suitability before ordering. Assistance with instructions does not allow someone else to complete your personal checks. Ask Coddan about the difficulty without sending identity images or confidential codes in the initial email.

What About Your Company’s People with Significant Control (PSCs)?

Separate the Director and PSC Positions

A director is appointed to the company’s management structure. A PSC is identified because of significant ownership or control. The same person may hold both roles, but the roles do not merge.

• The same individual may be both director and PSC.
• Identity verification is not ordinarily repeated merely because both roles are held.
• The Personal Code belongs to the individual.
• The code must be connected to each applicable role through the correct Companies House process.
• The director appointment and PSC process have different filing and timing requirements.

When Does PSC Identity Verification Become Relevant?

One Individual, Separate Corporate Roles

A PSC is a separate role, whether or not the person is also a director. The same individual normally uses one personal code, supplied separately for each applicable role. Standalone verification is available if checks are still required; accepted verification does not need to be purchased again merely for a PSC submission. See the director and PSC next steps below for the separate actions and periods.

Prepare your information and complete the supported checks

What to have ready

For the verification case, provide your full and former names, date of birth, home address, the previous 12 months’ address history and an email address you can access. Coddan may also need contact and relevant company details for the instruction. Supply personal information through the arrangements explained for your case.

Tell us your available identity-document type and issuing country. Coddan’s supported evidence can include passports, UK/EU driving licences and national identity cards from supported countries; not every document or country is accepted. Your instructions also identify the required proof of address. Ask about suitability before ordering if your evidence or access needs are unclear.

How Coddan handles your verification

1. Coddan reviews the order, creates the Credas case and sends the invitation by email or SMS with instructions.
2. You provide the requested evidence and personally complete the supported document, identity and selfie/liveness checks.
3. Coddan reviews the results, seeks clarification where needed and decides whether the Companies House verification standard has been met.
4. When satisfied, Coddan submits the confirmation through its ACSP account. Companies House issues your personal code. Code receipt and any remaining role or company filing are separate stages.

Will the checks meet Companies House requirements?

Coddan must be satisfied that the required standard is met before submitting its confirmation. A document category or completed scan alone is not a successful verification decision. Professional review addresses missing or inconsistent information; it does not lower the standard or guarantee acceptance. Read the Companies House verification standard.

International Directors and Overseas Identity Documents

Overseas Residence Is Not Automatically a Complication

A proposed director may live outside the United Kingdom and still join an existing UK company. Residence alone does not establish that special documents, paid support or a specialist route are required.

If the identity records contain substantial inconsistencies, unusual formats, transliteration differences or other genuinely cross-border complications, use the appropriate international director guidance rather than assuming that every overseas director belongs there.

Information to describe before you begin

Tell Coddan whether you are enquiring for yourself or arranging work for someone else. You can describe the circumstances in ordinary language; Coddan explains the supported work and what remains.

• The company name and number, where relevant, and whether the role is new or existing.
• Whether verification has already been accepted, a code received or a role submission completed.
• Your available document type and issuing country if a check is still needed.
• Any name or record difference, message received or access difficulty.
• The task you want completed and any relevant date.

Do not send identity documents or confidential codes in an ordinary initial enquiry. Your manager explains the appropriate secure arrangements when required.

Receive Your Companies House Personal Code

What the Personal Code Does

Companies House issues an 11-character Personal Code following successful identity verification. The code belongs to the verified individual, not to a company. The same code is used when the person needs to confirm their verified identity for relevant roles and companies.

After Coddan’s successful ACSP verification, Companies House sends the code to the email address supplied for you. Check that address is accurate and accessible. If the code is missing, contact your manager to check the address used before starting another verification. A completed Credas check alone does not establish that Coddan’s review and confirmation are complete.

Keep the Personal Code Secure

The code should be kept secure. It may need to be shared with a person the individual trusts to complete an authorised filing on their behalf. Detailed access, recovery, security and management instructions belong on the Personal Code guidance.

Continue to the dedicated Director’s Digital Passport / Personal Code guidance where the remaining question concerns understanding the code itself.

Provide Your Personal Code for the Director Role Where Required

Director Appointment and Personal Code

When an existing company appoints a new director, the filing requires the Companies House Personal Code received by that person after identity verification. If the person is instead becoming a director through a new-company registration, the code is supplied through the incorporation filing.

The practical sequence is therefore: verify the individual where required, obtain the Personal Code, provide it through the applicable director appointment process and ensure that the resulting appointment is correctly registered.

Complete the Separate Director Appointment

Appointment Completion Checklist

1. Confirm that the proposed appointment is validly authorised.
2. Confirm that the appointment information is correct.
3. Confirm that identity verification has been completed if required.
4. Confirm that the Personal Code has been issued.
5. Provide the Personal Code where the appointment process requires it.
6. Submit the appointment through the applicable filing channel.
7. Confirm that the Companies House record reflects the completed appointment.

If the company has not yet been incorporated, this is instead a formation interface. Do not use this page as a substitute for the company’s incorporation process.

What Happens After Identity Verification?

First establish what is already complete: verification, code receipt, role submissions and any company filing. In most cases one accepted verification serves the individual across relevant roles and companies. Use the same code where required; a second role does not automatically mean a second purchase.

Nothing further required: if all applicable verification, role submissions and company tasks are complete, no further verification action may be needed. Keep your code secure. Separately instructed company work requires the appropriate authority and agreed charges.

Personal Code and Ongoing Companies House Compliance

Existing directors and confirmation statements

If you are already a director, check whether the transitional personal-code requirement for each company has been completed. Any outstanding submission belongs with the relevant confirmation statement; it is not a new annual identity check. Follow the applicable due date rather than treating a later statement as a fresh deadline.

For that remaining task, use the existing-director and confirmation-statement guidance.

The Personal Code Is Not a Universal Filing Credential

The Personal Code belongs to the individual and is used to confirm verified identity for specified Companies House purposes. Possessing or storing the code does not itself complete a director appointment, PSC linkage, Confirmation Statement or another corporate filing.

Is Optional Coddan Director Identity Verification Support Appropriate?

Scope and useful completion: standalone verification covers the individual, not every role or company. Coddan explains suitable service choices and charges before you proceed. Where the required standard is met, Coddan submits ACSP confirmation; Companies House issues the code. Accepted existing verification should be recognised without another purchase merely for a director or PSC submission.

If you also need an appointment, Confirmation Statement, formation or other supported company task, Coddan can prepare and check agreed information, clarify outstanding matters, coordinate approval and handle authorised submission. You need not have formed the company through Coddan. Scope, authority and charges for that work are agreed separately.

Optional Support May Be Relevant Where

• You prefer professional assistance rather than completing the verification route independently.
• You want help understanding which legitimate verification route applies to your circumstances.
• You need professional coordination between verification and a proposed director appointment.
• Your circumstances require additional professional consideration without implying a lower verification standard.

Find the appropriate help for your next task

Use Another Route Where Appropriate

LLPs, partnerships and restoration

An individual LLP member may participate in managing an LLP’s affairs in a function comparable to a director’s management role, and a general partner may manage a limited partnership’s affairs. They must not, however, be described as company directors: their legal roles, filing processes and commencement provisions remain distinct.

Current Companies House guidance states that identity verification for limited partnerships and corporate members of LLPs will be introduced at a later date. Functional similarity in managing an organisation does not make the company-director route or timing automatically applicable, so the people concerned should be routed to the appropriate entity-specific guidance.

Likewise, identity verification does not restore a dissolved company or LLP. Restoration, outstanding accounts, Confirmation Statements, appointments, PSC matters and other filings remain separate professional jobs and should be routed to the appropriate restoration destination.

Why Companies House Identity Verification Forms Part of the Appointment Process

Verification Supports a More Reliable Register

Companies House explains that identity verification is intended to reduce fraud and improve transparency, trust and the accuracy of information on the register.

For a proposed director, the practical consequence is that identity verification becomes one part of establishing the person’s verified identity before the applicable corporate role is connected to that identity. The Personal Code then provides the mechanism for confirming that verified identity in the relevant Companies House process.

The commencement date did not create one universal November 2026 deadline for everyone. The applicable timing depends on the individual’s role, when that role began and the relevant Companies House process. Existing directors, new directors and PSCs must therefore follow their own applicable route and due date.

Questions about non-UK resident director and PSC verification