Identity verification when your company is struggling or closing

Companies House’s published approach to non-compliance says it is unlawful to act as a director without completing identity verification, and that if one director is in breach the whole company is in breach. Anyone who misses their due date is sent a default letter, after which Companies House may take enforcement action without further notice. Its three main routes are:

• prosecution through the courts
• referral to the Insolvency Service
• financial penalties, at company or individual officer level

In serious cases prosecution may lead to a criminal conviction, director disqualification and fines. Companies House also lists annotating the public register, directing a company to act, and removing defaulted companies from the register among its other powers. Its guidance adds that in future an unverified person will not be able to be appointed as a new director, register a new company or register as an authorised agent.

These are not theoretical. In September 2026 the Insolvency Service announced its first convictions: three directors of two companies were fined at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 16 September 2026. One had acted as a director while unverified; another had verified himself but was prosecuted for failing to take reasonable steps to stop an unverified co-director from continuing to act. Both companies had also failed to file a confirmation statement on time.

Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, and Companies House says it will not accept one until all directors have verified. It also says you can be fined up to £5,000 and the company may be struck off if the confirmation statement is not filed. So an unverified director can stop a company filing and push it towards being struck off by Companies House.

That is not a safe way to close a company with debts. Even after a company has been struck off and dissolved, creditors and others can apply to have it restored to the register, and gov.uk says voluntary strike-off itself is not an alternative to formal insolvency proceedings. Since the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act 2021, the directors of a dissolved company can also be investigated and disqualified. See our strike-off guide and CVL vs strike off for how the routes compare.

If Companies House writes to the company because a director is not verified, its letter asks the company to comply, to rectify the directors who are not complying, or to tell Companies House that the company is no longer needed. If the company is solvent and has no debts, a properly made strike-off application may be the right answer; the DS01 walkthrough explains the process.

Verification is about you as a person, not about the company, and Companies House’s identity verification guidance does not set out a separate rule for companies in liquidation or administration. If you are still acting as a director while the company’s future is decided, the requirements apply to you in the ordinary way. If a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner is advising the company, ask them how identity verification and any outstanding confirmation statement affect your case.

Be wary if you are asked to become a director of someone else’s company, or to take over as director of a failing one, so that they can avoid verifying. Companies House warns that criminals can take out loans and other debt in the name of anyone who lends them their identity, and that person will be legally responsible. See director disqualification for how conduct is assessed.

1. Check the due dates for each of your roles on the Companies House register.
2. Verify through the free GOV.UK One Login service, or ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider to do it for you.
3. Make sure every director of the company has verified before the next confirmation statement is due, and that any PSC gives their code within their 14-day period.
4. If the company cannot pay its debts, do not rely on it being struck off for non-filing. Read how to close a company and speak to a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner about the right route.

For who must verify, the dates and the two ways to verify, see Companies House identity verification: what directors need to do.