Search "Companies House identity verification deadline" right now and you'll find articles confidently naming two different dates — November 2026 and November 2027 — for what sounds like the same requirement. It isn't the same requirement. Companies House is running two separate identity-verification regimes on two separate timelines, and conflating them is the single most common mistake firms are making this autumn.
Here's what's actually true as of October 2026, and what it means for the firms that have to manage both.
What's live right now: director, PSC, and LLP member verification
Identity verification for individual directors, people with significant control (PSCs), and LLP members became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. Companies House is explicit that this date is not itself a deadline — it started a 12-month transition period, and existing directors, PSCs, and LLP members need to verify by due dates tied to their company's own confirmation statement date. In practice, that means the real deadlines for your existing clients are spread across a rolling window running through to around November 2026, not a single fixed date.
New appointments and new incorporations don't get a transition period — verification is required at the point of appointment or incorporation, now.
This is the part of the regime that's actually biting. Missing it is a criminal offence, carries a financial penalty, and can block a company from filing or from being incorporated at all. If your clients haven't verified yet, the clock on their specific due date is already running.
Firms that are AML-supervised can register as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) and carry out this verification on clients' behalf, provided the checks meet the same level of assurance as verifying directly with Companies House. For most practices, the harder part isn't the regulatory process — it's getting scanned passports, driving licences, and proof-of-address documents out of client inboxes and into a channel that's actually suitable for handling identity documents, with a record of who sent what and when.
What's been pushed back: presenter verification for agents
Separately, Companies House had planned to require identity verification from presenters — anyone filing documents on a company's behalf, which for most practices means the firm itself — alongside a parallel ACSP registration requirement for filing agents. That was originally expected to land around November 2026.
It's been delayed. Companies House confirmed in August 2026 that presenter verification will now apply "no earlier than November 2027," with at least six months' notice before it takes effect. The firms writing "17 November 2026" into their compliance calendars for this part of the regime are working from an outdated date.
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So: nothing new to file for presenter verification yet, and no new deadline to plan around until Companies House gives that six-month notice. The director/PSC/LLP member requirement above is the one with a live, ticking deadline for your clients today.
What this means for your practice
Two practical takeaways, not one:
First, the compliance work that matters right now is chasing your existing clients' directors and PSCs to complete verification before their individual due date — and the biggest bottleneck isn't the Companies House process itself, it's getting clients to actually do it. That's an engagement and document-collection problem as much as a compliance one.
Second, don't build a 2027 project plan yet. The presenter/ACSP requirement isn't live, doesn't have a fixed date, and Companies House has already shown it will move the goalposts once. Revisit it once the formal six-month notice is actually given.
Either way, the underlying need is the same one firms already have for engagement letters, ID checks at client onboarding, and tax documents: a place to collect sensitive identity documents from clients that isn't an email thread, with a clear trail of what was requested, what was received, and when.
Osuria is built for exactly that kind of exchange — a secure, branded workspace where clients upload identity documents and firms can see what's outstanding, without either side relying on email attachments.
Explore the Digital Workspace or start using Osuria to set it up for your own client identity-verification workflow.
This article reflects Companies House's published identity-verification guidance as of October 2026. Verification due dates are set per company and per individual — check GOV.UK's current guidance for the specific dates that apply to your clients.