Get a Companies House Personal Code: Quick Compliance Guide

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The implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) has fundamentally transformed how corporate identities are verified across the United Kingdom.

Under this evolving framework, anyone establishing, managing, or controlling a UK corporate entity must prove their real-world identity to the registrar.

As part of this broader Companies House company crackdown, a central element of this modernising initiative is the Companies House personal code, a unique 11-character alphanumeric identifier issued directly to an individual once their identity validation checks are complete.

Key Takeaways

Every UK director and person with significant control must obtain an 11-character alphanumeric identifier to remain compliant with corporate filing rules.
Existing company directors must provide their verified identity credentials during their corporate entity’s first confirmation statement filing window.
Persons with significant control who do not act as corporate directors face a strict 14-day compliance window starting on the first day of their birth month.
Identity verification can be processed free of charge via the official GOV.UK One Login portal or completed in person at a participating Post Office branch.

What Is a Companies House Personal Code?

The Companies House personal code is a unique, confidential alphanumeric identifier issued by the registrar to any individual who has successfully completed the official identity verification process.

Formatted as 11 characters broken into distinct clusters separated by hyphens (such as AB1-23CD-4EF4), this identifier belongs exclusively to the person, not the business they represent.

If an individual serves as a director for multiple independent companies, or acts simultaneously as a shareholder and an executive, they only undergo the verification process once. The single code is then reused across every past, current, and future corporate appointment.

Who Needs a Personal Code Under the New UK Rules?

The legal obligation to complete identity verification and obtain this credential applies to specific categories of business personnel.

In practice, failing to secure this code within the statutory windows blocks a business from submitting its required corporate filings, which can quickly lead to striking-off actions or civil penalties. The rule captures:

All Company Directors: This includes executive, non-executive, alternate, and shadow directors of any UK limited company.
Designated Members of LLPs: Individuals managing a Limited Liability Partnership must verify to maintain the firm’s statutory good standing.
Persons with Significant Control (PSCs): Anyone holding more than 25% of a company’s shares or voting rights, or possessing the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board.
Authorised Third-Party Filers: As of 2026, corporate secretarial agents, accountants, and legal professionals who submit forms on behalf of businesses must also hold a verified status.

What Is the Difference Between a Personal Code and a Company Authentication Code?

A frequent point of friction for small business owners is confusing personal identity credentials with company-specific access codes. They serve entirely different functions within the UK regulatory landscape.

Feature / Metric	Companies House Personal Code	Company Authentication Code	Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
Primary Purpose	Verifies the real-world identity of an individual person.	Grants administrative access to a specific company profile.	Identifies an individual or corporate entity for national tax filing.
Format Structure	11-character alphanumeric (e.g., FT5-15ED-7JY5).	6-character alphanumeric (e.g., A2W45R).	10-digit pure numeric string (e.g., 4442345123).
Ownership	Tied permanently to the individual person across all corporate roles.	Tied strictly to the specific registered corporate entity.	Issued separately to individuals or companies by HMRC.
Public Visibility	Strictly confidential; hidden from the public registry.	Strictly confidential; shared only with authorised filers.	Private tax data; never visible on public registers.

How Do I Find My Companies House Personal Code?

When reviewing decisions around corporate management, whether verifying your directors or trying to find the VAT registration number of a company, locating an existing identifier depends on the pathway initially chosen to complete the identity checks.

The verification infrastructure splits into direct online access and agent-assisted generation.

How to Find Your Companies House Personal Code via GOV.UK One Login?

If an individual completed their identity verification independently using the government’s digital application system, the code is securely stored inside their primary dashboard. To access it:

Navigate directly to the official entry portal on the GOV.UK identity verification service page.
Click the sign-in option and input the credentials for the specific GOV.UK One Login account used during verification.
Provide the secondary security factor, such as entering the 6-digit SMS code transmitted to the registered mobile phone.
Once the main interface loads, locate and select the Manage account tab positioned at the top of the workspace.
The 11-character personal identifier will display directly on the screen, ready to be safely recorded or applied to active filings.

How to Find Your Code if You Verified via an ACSP?

When an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), such as a chartered accountant, solicitor, or professional company formation agency, manages the verification process, a common pattern of confusion emerges.

Because the code belongs to the individual, Companies House does not save it to the agent’s corporate platform portal.

Instead, the system automatically dispatches an automated notification from [email protected] directly to the individual’s personal email address supplied by the agent during the check.

To locate this, search your personal email software for terms containing Companies House Personal Code or Identity Verification Confirmation.

If no communication is found, the individual should contact their ACSP to confirm the exact email address that was typed into the regulatory submission form.

How to Get a Companies House Personal Code From Scratch?

For corporate officers who have not yet undertaken verification, three legal pathways exist to fulfill the mandate. Every route yields the identical 11-character credential required for statutory submissions.

Method 1: Verifying Online Using the GOV.UK ID Check App

This represents the fastest, free-of-charge approach, taking approximately 10 to 20 minutes to process online.

The individual will need a modern smartphone equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities and a piece of valid, unexpired biometric identification.

Eligible Identification Documents: A biometric passport containing the embedded chip symbol on the front cover, a UK photocard driving licence (full or provisional), or a valid UK Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).
The Process: After launching the process online via GOV.UK, the user scans a QR code with their mobile device to link the session to the GOV.UK ID Check app. The app instructs the user to take a well-lit photograph of the document’s photo page, press the phone firmly against the document to scan the internal biometric chip, and complete a brief facial recognition scan using the phone’s camera.
The Result: Once data checking completes, the personal code generates inside the user’s account profile within moments.

Method 2: Verifying In-Person at a Post Office Branch

For directors who do not own a compatible smartphone, lack biometric identity documents, or prefer traditional identity handling, the government provides an integrated face-to-face option across the national Post Office network.

The Process: The individual must first log into the GOV.UK digital verification portal using their standard web browser. Instead of launching the app, they select the option for in-person verification. The portal requires them to enter the details of their physical identity papers manually.
The Result: The system generates a custom confirmation printout featuring a distinct barcode. The director must present this digital or printed barcode alongside their physical documents at a participating Post Office branch within the specified deadline. The postal clerk verifies the papers, matches the face, and transmits the approval directly to the registrar. The personal code is then emailed to the individual within one working day.

Method 3: Using an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

If a business uses an accountant, legal practitioner, or company formation agent to learn how to register a company and manage ongoing corporate compliance, they can pay a fee to have the provider verify them locally.

The ACSP conducts comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering (AML) identity checks using specialized digital platforms or a thorough visual review of original documents.

Once satisfied, the agent submits a secure verification attestation directly through their corporate portal link to Companies House.

The registrar processes the file and delivers the resulting personal code straight to the client’s personal email address.

When Should One Use the Companies House Personal Code?

Your personal code is not a login password, nor is it a code you will use for daily administrative tasks. Instead, it is a structural compliance gateway. You must use or provide your personal code in the following specific scenarios:

During New Formations and Appointments

Incorporating a New Company: As of 2026, any individual wishing to set up a new UK limited company must provide their pre-verified personal code on the incorporation documents. Without it, Companies House will automatically reject the application.
Appointing a New Director or Secretary: When an existing company appoints a new director or an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to their board, that individual’s personal code must be entered directly onto the appointment form.

Transitioning Existing Corporate Roles

Filing the First Confirmation Statement: For companies established before the new mandate, existing directors must provide their personal codes during the company’s first annual Confirmation Statement filing window.
Validating Existing Non-Director PSCs: If you are a Person with Significant Control but do not sit on the board as a director, you must submit your code via the dedicated online validation service within a strict 14-day window triggered by the first day of your birth month.

Managing the Double-Filing Requirement

If you operate as a sole director and own more than 25% of the shares, you act as both a Director and a PSC. Even though you only have one code, you must actively apply it to two separate filings: once within the company’s directorship filings (or Confirmation Statement) and once via the separate Provide identity verification details for a person with significant control transactional service.

Authorising Your Professional Representatives

Sharing with Accountants or Legal Agents: You will need to provide your personal code to your accountant, solicitor, or corporate secretarial agent. They require this code to link your verified profile to statutory annual filings or to register you into new corporate ventures on your behalf.

How Do You Provide Identity Verification Details for a Person with Significant Control?

An area where corporate filers make critical compliance mistakes involves managing the unique two-role requirement for small business owners.

The Double-Filing Rule for Director-PSCs

Consider a standard scenario: An entrepreneur operates as a sole director and owns 100% of the share capital, making them both a Director and a Person with Significant Control (PSC).

While the individual only needs to complete the verification process once to secure their personal identifier, that code must be submitted via two separate regulatory filings.

The Directorship Verification: The personal code is submitted when filing your Companies House confirmation statement online or directly within the appointment documentation for new board roles.
The PSC Verification: The identical personal code must be registered via a completely separate transactional service titled Provide identity verification details for a person with significant control.

Filing Deadlines and the Transition Matrix

The implementation schedule depends heavily on the date of a company’s incorporation and an individual’s specific appointment details.

Corporate Role Category	Identity Verification Window	Practical Enforcement Mechanism
New Companies & Appointments (Post-Nov 2025)	Must be fully verified before filing the incorporation or appointment form.	Companies House will dynamically reject any application that lacks a verified personal code.
Existing Corporate Directors (Pre-Nov 2025)	Must provide the personal code within the first Confirmation Statement window.	A 12-month transition period runs until late 2026 to ensure all active boards are updated.
Non-Director PSCs (Pre-Nov 2025)	Must submit the personal code via the dedicated online validation service.	A strict 14-day window applies, triggered automatically by the first day of the PSC’s birth month.

Why Have I Not Received My Government Personal Code Email?

If an individual completes their verification via an ACSP or at a Post Office branch but does not receive their automated notification within 48 hours, several factors are usually at play.

First, check all secondary spam, junk, and automated promotional filters for an email originating from [email protected].

If nothing appears, a common cause is an administrative typo made by the agent when entering the client’s email details into the submission form.

The director must contact their agent to audit the data fields; if an error is found, the ACSP must contact Companies House directly to request a record correction.

How to Save Your Personal Code to a Companies House Account?

To avoid losing a code that arrived in a loose email after an agent check, you should permanently link it to a master digital dashboard.

Create or log into a core Companies House account using the exact email address where the code was delivered.
Navigate to the account setup preferences and select the option to confirm an existing verification status.
Enter the 11-character personal code manually alongside the individual’s registered date of birth.
Save the profile changes; the code will now remain permanently accessible inside the Manage account tab for easy future reference.

What Should I Do if My Code Is Lost or Not Working?

If a personal identifier is misplaced or throws a validation error when typed into software, check that the formatting matches exactly (including uppercase letters and hyphens).

Errors can also occur if the individual’s official date of birth on the public register contains a historical clerical error, causing a database mismatch.

If an executive believes their code has been compromised, shared with unauthorised parties, or leaked online, they should immediately contact the central support team at [email protected].

The registrar will invalidate the compromised credential, update the database security protocols, and issue a fresh, secure code via email.

Summary

Proactive compliance with the identity verification mandate is essential to protecting your business from administrative disruption.

Business owners should identify their upcoming Confirmation Statement deadlines or check the birth-month windows for their non-director PSCs to ensure all checks are completed well in advance.

Gathering your biometric identification papers and utilizing the free GOV.UK One Login portal will help you secure your personal code quickly, ensuring your corporate profile remains fully compliant and open for business.

Disclaimer: This article provides general regulatory information for educational purposes and should not be construed as official legal or professional accounting advice.

FAQ

How do I get an authenticator code for Companies House login?

The authenticator code is distinct from your identity verification code. It is set up via an authenticator application on your smartphone to provide secure two-factor authentication whenever you access the online filing services.

Can I share my personal verification code with my accountant?

Yes, you can share it safely with authorised personnel. Your corporate secretarial agent or accountant requires your unique code to successfully link your verified profile to confirmation statements and new directorial appointments.

Is my personal ID number visible on the public registry?

No, the code is confidential. The public-facing database will display a visual indicator showing that your identity has been successfully verified, but your private 11-character identifier remains hidden from public view.

What happens if a director fails to get a code before incorporation?

As of 2026, verification is a structural gateway for new entities. Companies House will reject any incorporation documents or new appointment filings that do not include a pre-verified personal code for every proposed director.

Does my personal code expire if I close my limited company?

No, your code is permanent. It is tied to you as an individual rather than any single business entity. It remains dormant but fully valid for use if you choose to set up a new venture later.

What happens if my name changes due to marriage or a deed poll?

Your verified personal code remains completely valid even after a legal name change. You simply file a standard change of details form with Companies House to update your registry records without needing to re-verify.

Can one email address be used to register codes for two different people?

No, each email address can only be linked to a single individual identity. Co-directors or business partners must use their own unique email addresses when setting up their accounts.

How To Get Your Companies House Personal Code: UK Identity Verification Guide