How to meet Companies House identity verification standard · Step 6: Decide if you can verify the person’s identity

If you cannot verify their identity

how to meet companies house identity verification standard step 6 decide if you can verify the person s identity if you cannot verify their identity · in force: unknown

Captured source text (L5)

If you cannot verify their identity

If you have not been able to verify a person’s identity, you must still keep records of the evidence you used and checks you completed for 7 years.

It is the person’s responsibility to prove that they are who they say they are. They will need to get documents to be able to verify their identity for Companies House.

They will need to verify their identity to do any of the following:

- file with Companies House - be a director - comply with legal requirements as person with significant control (PSC) - apply to register as a Companies House authorised agent

Read the [guidance on verifying your identity for Companies House](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verifying-your-identity-for-companies-house) for more information.

Full captured verbatim text

If you have not been able to verify a person’s identity, you must still keep records of the evidence you used and checks you completed for 7 years.

It is the person’s responsibility to prove that they are who they say they are. They will need to get documents to be able to verify their identity for Companies House.

They will need to verify their identity to do any of the following:

- file with Companies House
- be a director
- comply with legal requirements as person with significant control (PSC)
- apply to register as a Companies House authorised agent

Read the [guidance on verifying your identity for Companies House](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verifying-your-identity-for-companies-house) for more information.

What this provision means

Model summary, checked against the text on the left.

Relevance to Signicat: 3/3 · detailed summary (L4) Status: not needed for a short provision · Stored artifact; current recipe verification unavailable

Verifiers unable to verify an identity must retain records of used evidence and completed checks for 7 years.

Only the one-line summary above is stored for this provision; the text itself is the evidence.

Refers to

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Referred to by

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Part summaries

0 of 0 parts have a verified summary.

L1 unavailable for current verification: the overall summary needs every part verified. Provisions and the verified summaries remain readable.

Verification findings (20)

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 main

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-chunk-1

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-1-ask-for-information-about-the-person

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-1-ask-for-information-about-the-person

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-2-get-evidence-to-verify-the-person-s-identity

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-2-get-evidence-to-verify-the-person-s-identity

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-2-get-evidence-to-verify-the-person-s-identity-documents-that-can-be-used-as-evidence

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-3-check-the-evidence-is-real

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-3-check-the-evidence-is-real

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-4-check-it-is-a-real-identity-and-it-belongs-to-the-person-claiming-it

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-4-check-it-is-a-real-identity-and-it-belongs-to-the-person-claiming-it

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-5-keep-records-of-the-identity-checks

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-5-keep-records-of-the-identity-checks

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 step-6-decide-if-you-can-verify-the-person-s-identity

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-6-decide-if-you-can-verify-the-person-s-identity

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard#how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard-step-6-decide-if-you-can-verify-the-person-s-identity-if-you-can-verify-their-identity

Instrument tier unavailable

Change history as published

Documents that have been cancelled or replaced with a newer one are now on the list of documents that cannot be used as evidence to verify someone's identity. eVisa is now on the list of photographic identity documents someone can provide an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) when documents are being checked with identification document validation technology. Insurance policy is now on the list of Group B documents someone can provide an ACSP when documents are being checked by a person. · 2026-06-19T13:28:14Z

Update to 'Option 1'. For option 1, you must use identification document validation technology (IDVT) to validate the cryptographic features of the document. If the document does not have cryptographic features (for example, if it’s a non-chipped document such as a UK driving licence), the technology you use must be able to validate the physical security features to verify the document. · 2025-12-09T11:31:43Z

Bullet point for group A documents changed back to previous content: 'another type of photographic ID listed on PRADO'. · 2025-10-15T16:03:10Z

Bullet point updated for group A documents you can provide: 'another type of photographic ID from the EU, its member states, or other countries participating in PRADO'. · 2025-10-09T16:19:20Z

Updated wording in Option 1 and Option 2: 'photographic identity' documents. Amended wording in Step 3: 'Companies House cannot recommend any specific training providers but they must follow the Home Office best practice guide'. Added bullet to Step 4: 'insurance policy documents that show the person’s home address'. · 2025-09-05T10:03:17Z

Improvements to guidance following user feedback. · 2025-04-08T10:30:04Z

The service to voluntarily verify your identity will be available on Tuesday 8 April 2025. · 2025-03-12T10:00:05Z

Other ways to verify someone’s identity – The launch of the service to register as a Companies House authorised agent has been postponed. We’ll update this page when a new date is confirmed. · 2025-02-24T10:26:05Z

Added translation · 2025-02-19T00:00:00Z

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Provenance

Every claim the system makes about this text is traceable to these identifiers.

Instrument: uk:govuk/companies-house-idv-standard
Part: Step 6: Decide if you can verify the person’s identity
Version: 1aea6a36c3e5a3bfe18a0f91…
Content hash: sha256 9b9723ceebbce01a9677be22…
Source: gov.uk/guidance/how-to-meet-companies-house-identity-verification-standard