Companies House will begin showing an “identity verified” note on the public register when it confirms an individual’s status. The change sits in a new statutory instrument made on 22 October and laid on 23 October 2025, and is designed to go live alongside the prohibition on acting as a director or LLP member unless identity is verified. Government guidance points to mid‑November 2025 for commencement, subject to the final switch‑on order.

What will actually appear is a simple annotation: when the registrar gives formal notice that a person’s identity is verified under the Registrar (Identity Verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers) Regulations 2025, the public record will carry a note that the individual is verified. That keeps the register readable for investors and counterparties while avoiding extra disclosure of personal ID data.

Directors and existing LLP members get a defined on‑ramp. The instrument ties the new duty to supply identity‑verification statements to a firm’s next confirmation statement within a 12‑month transitional period starting on the “relevant day” (the date the prohibition in Companies Act 2006 s167M comes into force). If there’s no confirmation statement during that year, the duty bites at the next one after the window closes. The law also deals with edge cases so people are not criminalised mid‑cycle.

If the confirmation statement window has not started by the relevant day, or is open but not expired, the prohibition on acting while unverified will not apply until the company or LLP files that confirmation statement; miss the window and the restriction kicks in the day after the filing period ends. Where a confirmation statement is already overdue on the relevant day, there is only a short grace-14 days-to get the statement in with the IDV confirmations before the prohibition starts to apply. That’s the practical deadline for boards with arrears to focus on.

For filings, unique identifiers now matter more. Where company law requires a statement that a person’s identity is verified, the statement must also include the individual’s unique identifier allocated by the registrar. Expect to see this in incorporation and change‑of‑officer filings, and in PSC statements once those provisions commence. ACSPs should update templates to capture and store these IDs cleanly.

LLP data requirements shift slightly. For now, individual members will no longer need to supply nationality and corporate members will not need to provide a service address at appointment-the government has deferred those data points until Companies House implements them later. However, every filing about a member must say whether the person or entity is a designated member. That creates a clearer picture of who can sign and file.

Unregistered companies are folded into the regime too. The registrar’s annotation powers and duties are extended so notes can be added where information is misleading or confusing, where a person on the register appears subject to director‑disqualification sanctions, and where someone has not complied with a statutory information notice. The rules also strip out some service‑address requirements for corporate directors, secretaries and registrable relevant legal entities until Companies House is ready to collect them.

The PSC framework is aligned to the new world. Once Companies Act 2006 s790LA starts, Companies House can require PSC verification statements with unique identifiers and will annotate where PSC particulars are restricted from public view for safety reasons. This builds on the separate Annotation Regulations made earlier in 2025, which already allow notes about disqualified directors and strike‑off action.

For ACSPs, this is largely operational. You’ll continue to deliver verification statements, but you should expect more cross‑checks, a requirement to include clients’ unique identifiers in the right places, and tighter 14‑day update duties on your own details with the registrar. Getting everyone onto GOV.UK One Login and standardising evidence capture will reduce rework later.

For company secretaries and directors, the immediate step is to map your confirmation statement window relative to the relevant day. If the window opens after commencement, plan to deliver identity‑verification statements with that filing. If it’s already open, you have until the end of the current delivery period. If you are in arrears on the relevant day, treat the 14‑day grace as a hard stop-after that, non‑verified directors or LLP members must not act.

SMEs should also decide who will act as the filing route. Where you use an ACSP, agree cut‑off dates for collecting evidence, capturing unique identifiers and delivering the verification statement with the confirmation statement. Where you file directly, make sure each director or member has completed identity verification promptly so you are not forced into last‑minute fixes. The cost of delay is an operational freeze on decision‑making for any unverified office‑holder.

The broader intent is cleaner data and clearer signals on the public register. Investors will be able to see when a person is verified; regulators can flag disqualification or non‑compliance; and firms get a predictable timetable linked to an annual filing they already know. Companies House has been building these tools since early 2025; the latest regulations make the register’s status signals more explicit for everyone who relies on it.