Companies House Verification Slips to 2027

Companies House Verification Slips to 2027: The Corporate Intelligence Gap

Businesses relying on Companies House to tell them who they are dealing with face a longer wait for full assurance, and a continuing need for their own corporate intelligence. On 5 August 2026 Companies House updated its outline transition plan for the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, confirming that the identity measures for people who file documents will not start before November 2027, with wider accounts reform pushed back to April 2028.

What the Transition Plan Changed

The plan is the register’s indicative timetable for switching on the powers in the 2023 Act. The 5 August 2026 update revised the date for the presenter measures, the rules that will require anyone filing a document to have a verified identity or to file through an authorised agent. That start date, once expected in November 2026, is now no earlier than November 2027. A presenter is anyone who delivers documents to the register, and under the measures they will need a verified identity or must file through an authorised corporate service provider. Companies House has said it will give at least six months notice before the requirement begins, so the earliest realistic point at which every filing carries an identity check has moved well into 2027. Reforms to small company accounts, which will change what smaller businesses must disclose, were confirmed for April 2028.

Identity Checks Are Arriving in Stages

Verification of directors and people with significant control is being prioritised and continues to roll out. The register is being rebuilt in phases, and the assurance that a filed document came from a checked source is one of the later pieces. Until the presenter measures are live, a filing at Companies House does not by itself prove that the person behind it is who they claim to be, or that the figures in a set of accounts reflect reality. Anyone who treats a search result as settled fact is trusting a system that is still being assembled, and that carries risk on a material transaction. The register clean up under the Act has already removed large numbers of suspect addresses and unverified appointments, which is progress, but removal after the event is not the same as assurance at the point you need it.

The Corporate Intelligence Gap

For anyone running counterparty checks, the message is that the public register is improving but is not yet a complete safeguard. Corporate intelligence, meaning the independent verification of ownership, directorships, financial standing and connected parties, remains necessary where a transaction, a supplier or an investment carries real exposure. The delay described in the transition plan is precisely the gap that this work is designed to close, and it will persist for at least another year on the current timetable.

Where Corporate Intelligence Fits

On a significant deal, corporate intelligence goes well beyond a register download. It confirms the real people behind a corporate structure, checks trading history and county court judgments, identifies undisclosed directorships and prior failed companies, flags links to individuals who have been disqualified, and tests whether stated resources actually exist rather than simply appearing on a form. Our private investigators carry out this work to evidential standards, and our guide to the ABI code sets out the professional framework behind it. Used at the right moment, it turns a register entry into something a decision maker can genuinely rely on.

If you need to know who is really behind a company before you contract, invest or lend, our team can help; fill in the form below to get in touch.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the Companies House presenter measures start?

The 5 August 2026 transition plan puts the presenter identity measures at no earlier than November 2027, with at least six months notice before they begin.

Does corporate intelligence replace a Companies House search?

No. It builds on the public record, testing and verifying what the register shows and filling the gaps the register does not yet cover.

Who commissions this kind of check?

Finance, risk and in house teams, and their advisers, use it before high value contracts, acquisitions, lending decisions and new supplier relationships.