Guidance · updated 20th August 2026
Verified as a director but not as a PSC
One identity check. Two separate codes. This is the single most missed step in the whole Companies House identity regime, and it takes thirty seconds to confirm that it is real.
Companies House, in their own words: “Even if you’ve provided your personal code as a director on your company’s latest confirmation statement, you’ll need to provide the code again as a PSC using the Provide identity verification details for a PSC service.”
And: “You only need to verify your identity once – but you must provide your personal code twice, once for each role.”
Source: Companies House, Understanding identity verification for people with significant control (PSCs), 16th January 2026.
Why this catches people
The identity check is a one off. You do it, you get a personal code, and you supply that code as a director. At that point everything on your screen says finished, because as a director you are.
The second obligation is attached to a different role. If you also appear on the register as a person with significant control, which almost every owner of a one person limited company does, the same code has to be supplied again against that role, through a different service, on a different clock. Nothing in the first step warns you about the second. That is the whole gap.
Who this hits hardest
The owner managed limited company. One person, sole director, sole shareholder, therefore both director and PSC of the same company. They are the most likely to be caught and the least likely to have anyone checking on their behalf.
It also hits family companies, husband and wife shareholdings, and any company where a person holds more than 25 per cent of shares or voting rights, or otherwise exercises significant control. In a typical accountancy practice book that is not a minority of clients. It is most of them.
When the second code has to be provided
There is no single national date. The window depends on the role.
| Situation | The 14 day window |
|---|---|
| Both a director and a PSC of the same company | The 14 days beginning the day after the company’s confirmation statement date. Companies House give the example of a confirmation statement date of 31st March 2026, giving a PSC window of 1st to 14th April 2026. |
| A PSC but not a director | The first 14 days of that person’s birth month. Companies House give the example of a birthday on 24th February, giving a window of 1st to 14th February. |
| Added to the register as a PSC on or after 18th November 2025 | 14 days from being added to the register. |
The practical consequence for anyone holding more than a handful of companies is that the dates are all different, and they repeat. This is not a job you complete. It is a job you run.
On the consequences, we will use their words rather than ours. Companies House state that if you do not comply with identity verification requirements you may be committing an offence and may have to pay a financial penalty or fine, and that a note may be displayed against your name on the public register. See GOV.UK: Provide identity verification details for a PSC.
How to check where you stand
- Look up the company on the free Companies House register and open the people tab.
- Check whether the person appears as an officer, as a PSC, or as both. Both is the common case.
- If they appear as both, the code has to have been provided twice, once against each role.
- Work out the window. Confirmation statement date if they are also a director, birth month if they are not.
- Use the GOV.UK service linked above to provide the code against the PSC role if it has not been done.
For one company that is a five minute job. For two hundred client companies it is a list, and somebody has to own that list.
What we do and do not do. Director Filing Desk is not an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, an accountancy firm or a filing agent. We do not carry out identity checks and we never will. We watch a list of company numbers on behalf of accountancy practices, spot what is due, and chase the people who have not acted. Nothing here is legal or tax advice. Check the current position at GOV.UK.
If you are a practice rather than an individual
Send us a list of client company numbers and we will send back a one page status report inside 48 hours, free, showing exactly how many of your clients are sitting in this gap right now. Company numbers are public data, so there is nothing confidential to hand over.
Related
Written 20th August 2026. Checked against Companies House and GOV.UK guidance on 20th August 2026. Guidance in this area is subject to change, so always confirm the current position on GOV.UK before acting.