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What must I confirm in my confirmation statement?

Email, lawful purpose, PSCs and identity.

As well as confirming you have sent any changes, your company needs a working registered email address and a statement that its plans are lawful. It also needs up-to-date PSC details and directors who have verified their identity.

Published

At a glance

Registered email
An address where Companies House's emails reach someone acting for your company
Lawful purpose
A statement that your company's intended future activities are lawful
PSCs
Your are on record, and changes are sent within 14 days
Identity
Every director has before you file. PSCs give their too

Sources

This entry is general information for directors of UK private limited companies, not advice about a particular company.

Does this apply to me?

  • You are the only director and own all the shares. You are a as well as a director. You give your separately for each role.

  • Someone else owns more than 25% of the shares or votes. They are a PSC too, and must .

  • Your company is dormant. Yes: these duties apply to every company that makes a .

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What to do

  1. Check your registered email address. Companies House's emails must reach someone acting for your company.

  2. If your company has not given an address, give one in the statement.

  3. If your address no longer reaches anyone, change it straight away. It must work at all times. If it is still not fixed when you file, send the change with the statement, unless one is already waiting to be registered.

  4. Make the lawful purpose statement. It goes in with every .

  5. Check your PSC details. Tell Companies House about any change within 14 days of confirming it.

  6. Verify your identity. Use , which is free, or an . You then get a personal code.

  7. Give your personal code as a director in the statement.

  8. If you are also a PSC, give your code again through the PSC service. This is usually within 14 days, starting the day after your . Check your dates on the Companies House register.

  9. Report any other changes. Changes to your , or shareholders go in the additional information section.

Sources

How it works

Your registered email address must reach someone

Your company must always have an appropriate . That means an address where Companies House's emails would normally reach someone acting for the company.

If your company has not given one yet, you must give it in your . If the address stops reaching anyone, change it straight away, because it must work at all times. If it is still not fixed when you file, the change goes in with the statement, unless one is already waiting to be registered.

For example

Say Priya set up Bramley Studio Ltd with an email address she no longer checks.

Companies House's emails would not reach anyone.

She changes it now, rather than waiting for her next confirmation statement.

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The detail The exact rule

Companies Act 2006, section 88A(1) and (2): a company must ensure that its registered email address is at all times an appropriate email address. An address is appropriate if, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company. Section 88A(3): failing to comply without is an offence by the company and every officer in default, punishable in England and Wales by a fine. Section 853CB applies where a company makes a confirmation statement, its registered email address is not appropriate, and it has not given a section 88B change notice that is awaiting registration. The company must then deliver a section 88B notice at the same time as the statement. Registered email addresses were brought into the 2006 Act by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, section 29, which also requires a statement of the intended registered email address when a company is registered.

Sources

You confirm your plans are lawful

Every confirmation statement must come with a statement that your company's intended future activities are lawful.

Sources

The detail The exact rule

Companies Act 2006, section 853BA: where a company makes a confirmation statement it must at the same time to the registrar a statement that the intended future activities of the company are lawful.

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Your PSC details must be up to date

A (PSC) is someone who owns or your company. A person is a PSC if at least one of these is true:

  • they hold more than 25% of the shares

  • they hold more than 25% of the votes

  • they can appoint or remove most of the directors

  • they have the right to significant influence or control over the company, or actually have it

For shares and votes, the test is more than 25%, so exactly 25% is not enough on its own. Someone with exactly 25% can still be a PSC through another test.

For example

Say Priya owns 75 of Bramley Studio Ltd's 100 shares, and a friend owns 25.

Priya holds more than 25%, so she is a PSC.

25 of 100 is exactly 25%, so her friend is not a PSC through shares alone.

Tell Companies House about any change to your PSC information within 14 days of confirming it. Your confirmation statement confirms that you have sent all of it.

Sources

The detail The exact rule

Companies Act 2006, Schedule 1A, Part 1: an individual has significant control over a company if at least one condition is met: (1) holding, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the shares; (2) holding, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the voting rights; (3) holding the right, directly or indirectly, to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors; (4) having the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control. The duties to deliver PSC information (sections 790LA to 790LH) are duties to notify a relevant event (section 853B(g)), and the confirmation statement confirms that all such information for the confirmation period has been delivered (section 853A(1)(b)(i)). A statement under section 853H is only for a company to which the PSC rules (Part 21A) do not apply, so an ordinary does not make one.

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Directors and PSCs must verify their identity

Since 18 November 2025, has been a legal requirement for directors and PSCs. You must not act as a director unless your identity is verified. Your company must make sure of this too.

If you became a director before 18 November 2025, you confirm your verification with your company's next confirmation statement. The transition period for this is 12 months, starting on 18 November 2025.

For you, the ban on acting unverified starts the day after your company files that statement. If it does not file by the , the ban starts the day after the deadline.

For example

Priya became Bramley Studio Ltd's director before 18 November 2025. Its next statement was due by 24 March 2026.

The ban applied to Priya from the day after Bramley filed that statement, or from 25 March 2026 if it had not filed.

You verify through , which is free, or through an . You then get a Companies House personal code. All directors must verify before you file the statement. PSCs must verify and give their personal code too.

If you are both a director and a PSC, you give your code separately for each role. The two steps are:

  • As a director: in your company's confirmation statement.

  • As a PSC: through the "Provide identity verification details for a PSC" service. Do this within a 14-day period starting the day after your . If you file early, that period does not change.

Companies House gives a different rule if you became a PSC after 18 November 2025. You can give your code when you are first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added.

You can check the dates of your 14-day period on the Companies House register.

For example

Say Priya's first statement after 18 November 2025 gave a confirmation date of 10 March 2026.

Counting 11 March as day 1, day 14 is 24 March 2026.

She had to give her code as a PSC between 11 and 24 March 2026.

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The detail The exact rule

Companies Act 2006, section 167M: an individual must not act as a director unless their identity is verified, and a company must ensure that an individual does not act as a director unless verified. Both are offences, punishable in England and Wales by a fine. A contravention does not affect the validity of the director's acts. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2025 brought identity verification provisions into force on 18 November 2025, including those for proposed officers and for people with initial significant control. Regulation 4 of those Regulations covers an individual who became a director before 18 November 2025. The company must deliver an identity verification statement for them with its next confirmation statement during the transitional period of 12 months beginning with 18 November 2025. Where, on 18 November 2025, the delivery period for that statement had yet to begin or had not yet expired, section 167M(1) does not apply to the individual, and section 167M(2) does not apply to the company for them, until the day after the company complies with its duty to deliver the statement or, if it does not, the day after the last day of the delivery period. Where the company had an overdue confirmation statement on 18 November 2025, the same suspension lasted until the earlier of the day after the company delivered the identity verification statement and the end of the day on 2 December 2025.

Timing by role (Companies House guidance): existing directors give their as part of the company's next confirmation statement, within a 12-month transition period from 18 November 2025. New directors must verify before the company is or they are appointed. A PSC who is not a director gives their code within the first 14 days of their birth month. A person who became a PSC after 18 November 2025 can give it when first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added.

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Consequences

If you get it wrong

Each of these can be a criminal offence:

  • not keeping an appropriate , without

  • acting as a director without a verified identity, or a company letting that happen

  • missing an

Not filing the at all can mean a fine of up to £5,000, and your company may be .

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Less common situations

You are a director of more than one company. You give your for each company.

A PSC has died. Their identity does not need to be verified. They should stay on the register until a or letters of administration has been received.

Your 14-day period ends on a weekend or bank holiday. The guidance does not say whether it moves. So give your code by the last working day before.

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Not covered here

When your statement is due: see what a confirmation statement is and when it is due. The fee: see how much it costs. that are companies or , companies as directors, what a statement of capital contains, and how the identity checks work.

Where this comes from

46 official sources. Open a group to see them.

The law 26 sources
HMRC 5 sources
GOV.UK 6 sources
Companies House 8 sources
FRC 1 source

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