Authorised Corporate Service Provider identity verification

An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) is a firm — typically an accountant, solicitor or company formation agent — that Companies House has authorised to verify individuals' identities on its behalf. The requirement was introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, alongside the Registrar's (Identity Verification by ACSPs) Rules 2025, which together brought mandatory identity verification to the UK company register for the first time.

Checks performed by an ACSP must meet the Companies House identity verification standard. According to GOV.UK's own guidance on meeting the Companies House identity verification standard, six core steps apply to every check: asking for identity information, gathering evidence of identity, checking that evidence is genuine, checking the identity belongs to the person presenting it, keeping records for a defined period, and deciding whether to proceed with submission.

As your ACSP, we complete all six steps on your behalf and submit an Identity Verification Statement directly to Companies House — you never have to navigate the process alone.

Our paid service includes application support, guidance through the appropriate verification route, and professional review and submission.

You can also verify directly through GOV.UK One Login free of charge. Whether you choose that route or professional support depends on your documents and the assistance you want.

Compare the verification routes in our detailed guide

There is no exemption from Companies House identity verification for directors who live outside the UK. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 applies the same duty regardless of nationality or residence. What changes for overseas directors is which route actually works in practice.

GOV.UK's self-verification service, One Login, accepts a biometric passport from any country — genuinely useful if you hold one. But its other accepted documents (UK driving licence, UK BRP, UK BRC, UK Frontier Worker permit) are all UK-specific, and its two fallback options for people without those documents are explicitly offered "if you live in the UK," per GOV.UK. That leaves a real gap for non-UK residents without a biometric passport — no UK phone number, no UK bank or credit footprint, and no UK address to fall back on.

As an ACSP, we close that gap. GOV.UK confirms that identity verification through an authorised agent "can be done from any country" (GOV.UK), using a wider document list — including foreign driving licences, national ID cards, visas and work permits — with the one added rule that at least one document must be government-issued if you're not UK-resident. Verification can be completed by secure digital link at a time that fits your time zone, and your foreign home address is accepted and never published on the public register. If you do not hold a biometric passport, the two-document route requires an in-person appointment at our Bedford or London–Stratford office, at £125 per applicant. Overseas remote verification is £119, all-inclusive. UK remote verification is £49; standard office appointments are £125 for either residency group.

If you're managing identity verification across a client base, a company secretarial function, or a corporate group with several subsidiaries, the challenge isn't the individual check — it's coordinating dozens of confirmation statement dates, PSC 14-day windows and document types without anything slipping through. Each person's identity still has to be verified individually; GOV.UK confirms the Companies House personal code is "personal to you, not your company," so there is no single check that covers a group.

What we offer instead is a consistent process at volume: one named point of contact managing your batch, the same compliance checklist applied to every individual, a shared view of who's completed their check and who's still pending, and seven-year record retention applied consistently across your whole client base or group — so there's one audit trail to point to, not a patchwork of informal notes. Firms that would rather not register as their own Companies House authorised agent can refer verification work to us under a straightforward working relationship, while remaining their client's primary point of contact throughout.

Bulk remote fees are £39 per applicant with a UK or EU chip passport (minimum 25 such applicants) and £85 per overseas applicant without a chip passport (minimum 10 such applicants), all-inclusive. Each minimum is counted separately. Smaller numbers pay the standard price: £49 online, £119 overseas by video call, or £125 for an office appointment. For larger volumes, email info@taxandaccountinghub.com to confirm pricing. Standard office appointments are £125 per applicant and are quoted separately from remote bulk orders.