To shred loads of old financial documents?

[17bluebirds]

I am so sick of the piles and piles of paperwork in the house, I just can't seem to get a storage system that keeps it neat.

I have so much stuff and I need to get rid of it.

WIBU to shred old mortgage statements for a house we no longer even own? Would I ever need to prove I owned it and that I paid on time?

What about old pension documents? They send annual statements each year, so can I shred the old ones when the new ones arrive?

Old utility bills and council tax? What about the random letters from broadband suppliers that say welcome to our service?

I need to take drastic action because I'm drowning in this stuff.

Please help

How often have you looked at any of them in the past 7 years?

Shred shred shred. If you are nervous keep one document with relevant information from each thing (eg one document relating to the house/mortgage). I only keep the paper version of the latest pension statements, the rest go. Ditto council tax etc.

Sorry, I didn't meant to enable voting.

PHotograph them on your phone if you're not sure and then shred.

Wow, I have just found a letter from 2011 telling us that our Endowment might not reach the required amount.

We got rid of it and made other arrangements years ago. I surely don't need to keep that!?

Photographing them is a great idea. Thanks

Shred.

I only keep 12 months of bank statements that aren't online, and get rid once the account has been closed over 12m. I don't generally need stuff for tax returns, you may need them for that?

I'd keep stuff that contains t&cs for things you currently use, or updates (eg sky, insurance updates if you're with the same provider) and bin the rest.

No need for policy docs for the endowment (unless you want to make a miss-selling claim), or mortgage statements for a house you don't own!

unless you are self employed you do not need to keep years of paperwork

you need
THe original copy of anythig important Birth marriage etc certificates driving licence and qualifications
any policies such as life insurance, private pensions, savings accounts ISA share certificates etc. this is particularily important if the original have a different name and address to your current one the account number and address and the latest statement
for utilities the latest bill ( sometime if selling a house they want to see average fuel costs) but these could be online
Generally keep your P60 or P45 until the next one arrives
you don't need bank statements for years or out of date policies or redundant bank accountor the year before last's car insurance
if you are self employed you need to keep paperworkj 6 years
but you should shred or burn not just bin anything you are not keeping
There are sites which list what paperwork you should keep it should fit in a lever arch file use separators for things like
Barclays current account
Santander savings
this years insurance policies plus proof of no claims bonus
Mortgage statement or rent agreement
latest P60 / pension statement
any other policies ie PHI, mortgage insurance endowment policies
vital certificates
Receipts and guarantees for current appliances bin once guarantee past while most manuals are available online as PDF some are behind paywall so you might want to keep hard copy
( i would suggest passport driving licence birth marriage death certificates and wills are kept in a lockable fire proof safe box)
if you are the executor for a will keep paperwork for a few years

As purple said, keep the closing document of defunct products - mortgage on a house you've sold, endowment, etc. Shred the rest. Utilities - I've been keeping a record of usage and cost them shredding the original, but that's a foible of mine. Basically, they're shredded!

You can reduce the influx by selecting the paperless option for everything you can.

Keep things for 6 years, unless birth/marriage/qualification certificates that cannot be replaced. Its a good idea to scan/photograph all certificates as well in case you have a fire/flood/break in.

I scan everything that I don't need the original of and then shred. I have one small document folder with originals in and that's it.

I have just shredded lots of old documents and photos. Unfortunately smoke started coming out of the shredder with smell of burning. It is now dead. Just saying because it was highly preventable. Because I wanted to get rid of it all quickly I was over zealous and didn't give it a chance to catch its breath, plus I was stuffing in more than I should have done. So, when you do start shredding, pace yourself and do a few every now and then.

If you scan documents then do also store those images in the "cloud" or email to yourself.

As said, go through the documents before shredding and take photographs of any you think might need recording. then shred the rest before you change your mind.

And as Melange99 said, take your time. Don't expect to complete in one continuous session

Oh, and don't put the shredded paper in your recycling.

It contaminates the lot so can't be recycled

There is an adobe scan app and you can then save them as documents rather than pictures and it also reads them so that searches will find key words in them. I would keep at least one scanned record of every account with its numbers. If there is another PPI scandal it will make it much easier to prove you had the account and need a massive payout, or if you need them for any other reason.

I’ve got same exact problem. But exacerbated by paperwork from both parents who’ve recently died - wills and all their stuff and my own. Trouble is we’ve dual nationality and foreign tax potentially and estate stuff and I dread having shredded something when they come knocking (actually don’t think they will). Anyway as a good mner I never answer a knock on the doors, eh?

If you don’t have any stuff like that then I agree shred. If you’ve got a scanner use that for anything mega important.
What a sense of liberation.

I used to hold onto everything just in case but I have online access to my council tax and other bills, keeping bills seems defunct.
The only documents I really need are certificates and mortgage statements.

Use a Cam Scanner app to photograph the docs which will format it into pdfs. I have 1 pocket wallet which has some important docs which I need to keep but everything is online. I haven't received a paper bill or statement in years.

Metal box file, £12 from Amazon.
Separate sections for house, work, insurances, medical etc.
Decide what you'll keep.
File in approriate section.
The have a 1 in 1 out system.
No point keeping anything if you wouldn't know where to find it.
God forbid, but, if you get run over by a bus (why is it always a bus?), other people may need to be able to access your paperwork.

Thanks all. I currently have 8 box files of the stuff!

So far I have gone through 4 of them

I have got everything stapled together now, (Documents that were several pages long were all separate before) I've highlighted the date of each document, now I'm going to put them in date order for each account. Then I can keep the newest and get rid of all the old ones.

Then photograph them so next year I can keep the new ones and throw these ones out.

Anything defunct you just want the basic details and statement of closure (almost certainly will never need even that)

Anything like a utility bill is superseded by the next one so strictly speaking there shouldn't be any need to keep more than one or two

The exception to this is credit card statements with significant purchases you might want come-back on, especially if you got rid of the receipt

P60s are apparently supposed to be kept for a couple of years, but they're a good record of your pension and NI payments so I'd suggest you keep them all. Old payslips are summed up by the P60s so surplus to requirements.

General consensus seems to be 5-7 years for bank statements. I try to remember to shred the oldest ones once a year.

Random welcome letters are not necessary, unless they're the only thing you have. Again, keep the latest statement of plan and bill. Ditto for insurance - policy documents will usually say how long you've had it anyway.

I work on the basis "might I ever need to prove this?"

Shred. I do this but once got to a point of having ten year old documents. Also opt for paperless where you can.

Date order filing is excellent.
New one slipped in at the front then back one taken out and burned/shredded depending on your eco credentials.

If I were run over by a bus or anything else happened my dp would curse the state of my paperwork.
You are an inspiration op.
I bloody loved my mum who unbeknownst to me had been sorting hers for years before she died. I did not feel the same way about my dad whose stuff was in a total mess and there were roomfuls. Some still needed.
6 tip trips. 2 shredders shredded. Days spent sorting and chucking.
You are an inspiration op.

Surely anyone able to post on Mumsnet doesn’t need paper printouts of their old bank statements, utility bills etc. Mortgage deeds, original policies etc yes - proof that you have something.

But everything else? Shred.

We have no paperwork for anything apart from birth and marriage certificates.

Mortgage deeds are at the solicitors.

Everything else is online. I haven't received a paper statement for anything for years!

Oh hold on we do still get a paper council tax statement.