How to Update Your PSC Information: Practical Guide

When someone gains or loses control of your company, or a controller's details change, you must update PSC information with Companies House. It is one of the filings small companies most often forget, usually because the change happened as part of a share sale or a family reorganisation and nobody thought about the register. This practical guide explains when you need to update PSC information, which form to use, the deadline, and the extra identity step that applies to new PSCs since November 2025.

A quick reminder: who is a PSC?

A person with significant control is anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove most of the directors, or has significant influence or control over the company, directly or through a trust or firm. A UK company that owns yours may be recorded as a relevant legal entity instead. Our guide to PSC requirements explains the tests in detail.

When you need to update PSC information

You must update PSC information when:

• someone becomes a PSC, for example by buying shares that take them over 25%
• someone stops being a PSC, for example by selling shares or dying
• a PSC's level of control moves between bands, such as from over 25% up to 50%, to over 50% up to 75%
• the nature of their control changes, for example they gain the right to appoint most directors
• a PSC's personal details change, such as their name, service address, residential address, country of residence or nationality
• a company that had no PSC now has one, or the reverse

The deadline

You must tell Companies House within 14 days of confirming the change. Confirming means the company has established the facts, for example the share transfer has completed and the details have been checked. Since 18 November 2025, companies no longer keep their own internal PSC register, so the Companies House filing is the official record and needs to happen promptly.

Which form to use

Each kind of change has its own form. There is no Companies House fee for any of them.

Adding a PSC

• PSC01: notice of an individual person with significant control.
• PSC02: notice of a relevant legal entity, such as a UK parent company.
• PSC03: notice of an other registrable person, such as a government body.

Changing a PSC's details

• PSC04: change of details of an individual PSC.
• PSC05: change of details of a relevant legal entity.
• PSC06: change of details of an other registrable person.

Removing a PSC

• PSC07: notice of ceasing to be a PSC, for individuals and entities alike.

Statements when there is no PSC

• PSC08: notice of PSC statements, for example that the company has no registrable PSC, or has not yet confirmed its PSC's details.
• PSC09: update to PSC statements, such as withdrawing a statement once a PSC is identified.

How to update PSC information online

1. Gather the facts. Get the date the change took effect, the new shareholding or voting percentage, and the person's full details.
2. Sign in to the Companies House service with GOV.UK One Login, using the company's authentication code.
3. Choose the right filing: add, change or remove a PSC.
4. Enter the details, including the nature of control and the ownership band. For a new individual PSC, include their residential address and full date of birth; Companies House keeps these private.
5. Add the personal code if the new PSC has already verified their identity.
6. Submit. Companies House usually processes online PSC filings quickly and updates the public register.

Identity verification for new PSCs

Since 18 November 2025, people with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House. A new PSC can give their personal code when they are first added to the register, or within 14 days of being added. If a new PSC is also being appointed as a director, they must verify before the appointment can be filed.

Existing PSCs have their own 14-day windows: linked to the company's confirmation statement date if they are also directors, or to their birth month if not. Missing the window can lead to penalties for the PSC and problems for the company's filings, so plan verification alongside any ownership change. See our guide to ID verification requirements.

What appears on the public register

When you update PSC information, some details go on the public register and some stay private:

• Public: name, service address, month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence, the date they became a PSC, and the nature and band of their control.
• Private: the full date of birth and the usual residential address.

A PSC who uses their home as their service address will have that address on the public record. Many people use a separate service address, such as a registered office or virtual office address, to keep their home private.

PSC changes when you buy or sell a company

A sale of shares in a company almost always means you need to update PSC information, often for several people at once. Build the PSC filings into the completion checklist alongside the stock transfer forms, the updated register of members, any director resignations and appointments, and stamp duty where it applies. The buyer will usually want to see the register showing the right PSCs soon after completion, and lenders often check it before releasing funds.

Worked examples

A new investor buys 30%

A founder who owned 100% sells 30% of the shares to an investor. The founder is still a PSC, but their band changes from over 75% to over 50% up to 75%, so the company files a PSC04 for the founder. The investor now holds more than 25%, so the company files a PSC01 for them. Both filings are due within 14 days of confirming the sale, and the share transfer must also be recorded in the register of members.

A shareholder retires

One of three equal shareholders sells all their shares back to the company. They stop being a PSC, so the company files a PSC07. The remaining two now each hold 50%, which may move their bands, so PSC04 forms may be needed for them too.

A PSC moves house

A PSC moves to a new home. Their residential address has changed, so a PSC04 is filed. The new address stays private; only the service address appears on the public register.

A company with no PSC gains one

A company owned by four equal shareholders had filed a PSC08 statement that it has no registrable PSC. One shareholder buys another's shares and now holds 50%. The company files a PSC01 for that shareholder and a PSC09 to withdraw the no-PSC statement.

Common mistakes when you update PSC information

• Forgetting the people who did not change. When one person's shareholding moves, everyone else's percentage may move too.
• Wrong effective date. Use the date the change actually happened, not the filing date.
• Treating a director change as a PSC change. Directors and PSCs are different; a director who owns no shares is not a PSC.
• Waiting for the confirmation statement. PSC changes cannot be made on the CS01; they must be filed separately within 14 days.
• Leaving out the share transfer. Update the register of members and file any related share forms as well.
• Ignoring verification. A new PSC who does not provide their personal code in time creates a new compliance problem.

When a PSC dies

If a PSC dies, their shares pass to their estate. Companies House guidance is that the PSC should stay on the register until a grant of probate or letters of administration has been received. Once the personal representatives are confirmed and the shares are transferred to the beneficiaries, update PSC information to remove the deceased and add any new PSC who now holds more than 25%.

What if you missed the deadline?

File the correct form as soon as you can, with the true date of the change. Failing to keep PSC information up to date is an offence, so it is better to put it right quickly than to leave the register wrong. If the missed change was part of a larger reorganisation, check that the share forms, director appointments and confirmation statement all line up.

Checklist to update PSC information

• Identify every person whose control changed, not just the obvious one.
• Choose the right form: PSC01 to PSC03 to add, PSC04 to PSC06 to change, PSC07 to remove, PSC08 and PSC09 for statements.
• File within 14 days of confirming the change.
• Make sure new PSCs verify their identity in time.
• Update your register of members if shares changed hands.
• Check the public register afterwards to make sure the change shows correctly.

Companies House explains the rules on GOV.UK in its guidance on people with significant control.

We can file it for you

We can update PSC information with Companies House for you, work out every form that is needed after a share sale, and help new PSCs verify their identity. See our PSC update service.