From November 2025, many company owners will hear a new phrase alongside confirmation statements and accounts – the Companies House personal code. This is part of the government’s wider reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which aims to improve the quality and reliability of information on the public register.
More than 5.4 million limited companies are now registered in the UK, with over 500,000 new companies incorporated each year (Companies House, 2025). That is a large volume of directors, shareholders and advisers sending data to Companies House, often on your behalf. Improving how individuals are identified is intended to cut fraud and reduce false or misleading filings.
For many SMEs, the Companies House personal code will become part of routine company secretarial work. Directors, people with significant control (PSCs) and others who file on behalf of a company will all need to verify their identity and receive a personal code before certain filings can be accepted.
In this article, we explain what your Companies House personal code is, when you will be asked for it, how to share it safely with advisers, and the practical steps we recommend to keep it secure.
What is a Companies House personal code?
When you successfully complete identity verification with Companies House, you are given a unique identifier called a Companies House personal code. The code is issued to you as an individual, not to your company. If you are a director of several companies, or a PSC in more than one group, you still use the same personal code each time.
To get the code, you must verify your identity either:
- directly with Companies House using GOV.UK One Login (Companies House, 2025), or GOV.UK
- through an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP), such as your accountant or solicitor, who completes checks and confirms your identity to Companies House.
Once verification is complete, Companies House emails your personal code to the address held on file. If you verified directly, you can also view it by signing in to your Companies House account and selecting Manage account.
The personal code links your verified identity to the filings you make or that are made on your behalf. Over time, this should help reduce fake appointments and improve confidence in the register, which already records more than 5.4 million companies (Companies House, 2025).
How your Companies House personal code works in practice
Identity verification became available on a voluntary basis from April 2025 and became a legal requirement from 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition period.
You will typically be asked for your Companies House personal code in situations such as:
- New company incorporation: New directors must verify their identity and use their personal code before their appointment can be registered.
- Existing directors: You will need to quote your personal code in the first confirmation statement filed after 18 November 2025 for each company where you are a director.
- People with significant control: PSCs must verify and provide their code within specific time limits once their interest is registered.
- Anyone filing on behalf of a company: Individuals who submit filings (for example, a finance director or in-house company secretary) will also need a verified identity and code.
The change matters for SMEs because of the sheer number of companies and business owners affected. There were 2.73 million VAT and/or PAYE-registered businesses in the UK as of March 2025 (ONS, 2025), many of which trade through limited companies and will be caught by the new rules.
If you are unsure whether a role you hold requires a Companies House personal code, we can review your position and your filing pattern as part of our company secretarial and compliance service. You can find out more about how we support owner-managed businesses on our services page.
Sharing your code with advisers
A common question we are already hearing is whether it is safe to share your Companies House personal code with your accountant or other advisers. Companies House guidance confirms that you may share your code with people you trust to file on your behalf, such as an ACSP or company officer.
In practice, we suggest the following approach:
- Limit who has it: Share your personal code only with advisers who are actively filing documents for you, and only through secure channels.
- Be clear on purpose: When an adviser asks for your code, they should be able to explain which specific filing it relates to and why it is required.
- Keep your own record: Even if you give your Companies House personal code to us or another adviser, keep a secure copy for your own records.
If we act as your ACSP, we can manage the verification process, help you obtain your code and then record it securely within our internal systems. That leaves you with one less thing to worry about when accounts, confirmation statements and officer changes are due. You can read more about our firm and how we work with clients on our about page.
Keeping your Companies House personal code secure
Your Companies House personal code is similar in importance to your National Insurance number or Unique Taxpayer Reference. It does not give direct access to your bank accounts, but it does connect you to key legal roles within one or more companies. Treat it as confidential information.
Practical steps we recommend include:
- Store securely: Keep the code in a reputable password manager or locked document, not in meeting notes or on a sticky label by your screen.
- Avoid casual sharing: Do not forward the code in group emails or messaging chats; send it only to named individuals who have a clear reason to use it.
- Check unexpected requests: If you receive an email or message asking for your Companies House personal code out of the blue, contact the sender using known details before replying.
- Review Companies House filings: Periodically check your company’s record on the Companies House register to ensure new appointments or changes genuinely relate to you.
These safeguards are important because one of the aims of the reforms is to address false appointments and minimise the risk of your details being misused on the public register. Identity verification and the personal code system are implemented alongside broader measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act to enhance data quality and combat economic crime.
If you have any concerns about historic filings or entries that do not look right, we can help you review the position and discuss options for correcting the record.
Common questions we are hearing from clients
Is my Companies House personal code the same as my Companies House login or Government Gateway ID?
No. Your Companies House personal code is an 11-character identifier that proves a verified link between you and Companies House. Your Companies House login and Government Gateway ID are separate sets of credentials that control access to online services.
What happens if I lose my Companies House personal code?
If you verified directly, you can sign in to your Companies House account and view the code under ‘Manage account’. If an ACSP verified you, they will have provided the email address used, and Companies House can send the code again using that address. In both cases, you should update your secure records so you do not rely on old emails.
Do shareholders and employees need a Companies House personal code?
Only if they fall into one of the categories required to verify, for example, they are a director, a PSC or an individual who files on behalf of the company. Ordinary shareholders who do not meet these tests will not usually need a code.
What happens if I do nothing?
From 18 November 2025, new appointments will not be valid without verified identities, and existing directors and PSCs must verify by the relevant deadlines linked to their confirmation statements and PSC notifications. Failure to comply can lead to offences and, ultimately, action against the company.
Next steps to manage your Companies House personal code
The introduction of identity verification and the Companies House personal code is a significant change for SMEs, but it can sit neatly alongside the company secretarial routines you already follow. Over the next year, most directors and PSCs will need to verify once, obtain their code and then use it whenever they incorporate a new company, take on a new role or file key documents.
Our recommendation is to act early rather than wait for your next filing deadline. That gives time to deal with any issues, update internal records and put clear procedures in place for how your code is stored and shared. With more than 5.4 million companies now on the register, the reforms are intended to protect both the public record and honest business owners.
If you are unsure whether you or fellow directors have verified yet, or you would like help building identity verification and your Companies House personal code into your year-end and company secretarial calendar, we can assist.
For SMEs across Scotland and the wider UK, this is a good moment to review how you handle Companies House filings, officer records and PSC information. Getting your Companies House personal code set up and managed properly now can reduce risk, save time and give you greater confidence that your company record is accurate and up to date. Speak to us today.