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Housekeeping

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Paperwork tips

8 replies

Wollstonecraft1 · 02/04/2018 23:01

Still having a Bank Holiday clear out - and I'm overwhelmed by paperwork. Can I get rid of my old car insurance details? I have kept it for years for no claims bonus reasons, but I have never been asked to produce it so I assume insurance companies know somehow?

Any other paperwork top tips?

OP posts:
WeShouldBeFriends · 02/04/2018 23:13

The only paperwork I keep is passports, birth certificates, current council tax statement, car registration docs and will. One small folder in the desk 😬 Current car insurance certificates kept in glove boxes. Other insurance policies are just reference numbers in emails. Banking all online.

Wollstonecraft1 · 02/04/2018 23:22

WeShould, that sounds amazing. I'm absolutely going to get there, I don't know why paperwork exists anymore now we could be completely digital.

OP posts:
QuiteQuietly · 03/04/2018 10:26

The only time I've ever had to prove my no claims bonus, they just asked for the current paperwork which should show the number of years on it somewhere. So no need to keep historical insurance paperwork.

I have one lever arch file with stuff to do with our house (the sort of things you need to give the solicitor when selling - like gas installation safety certs, paperwork for building work, electrical P certs etc.). Then 1 A4 plastic wallet with passports, driving docs, birth certificates etc. and 1 A4 plastic wallet with current years council tax /electric bills/receipts for big purchases and the same for last years. Then when I start a new year, I get rid of the "old bills" (burn of shred) and use the wallet for the new year. I find it useful to keep physical paper bills for ID and CRB checks etc. I don't put things in order or separate by bill type - I just shove it in the wallet. Similarly with the lever arch file, I just put stuff in on top. Quicker to hunt through if I need something, than spend time organsing and arranging. Anything emailed, stays in email - I don't print things out. Business accounts and medical paperwork are dealt with separately - a folder for each, but you may not need these. Just keep what you need.

Wilson2 · 05/04/2018 15:29

I think, in general, if the car insurance stuff is older than 3 years you don't need to keep it...

supersop60 · 06/04/2018 18:37

I need this. Not as much as DP, who has paperwork going back to 1987 when he started work!!!

MikeUniformMike · 07/04/2018 15:30

Handle it once. Bill arrives, pay it, shred/file it.
Scan important documents.
Keep business, bank and tax documents, if you need to.
Keep everything together, and have regular sort outs.

ItchyBites · 07/04/2018 18:51

I use a couple of apps called Evernote, Scanable and Sortly.

Evernote is the main one. I use it to keep my recipe book, meal plans, links to pdf's of instruction manuals, scanned copies of important documents, scanned copies of things like insurance details, bills, lists (shopping lists, lists of my OH and DD's shoe and clothing sizes, cat vaccination details and microchip numbers, house maintenance lists and all sorts of other things), holiday planning (links to websites of places we want to visit, information such as supermarket locations, flight details and accommodation details with things like keysafe codes). I share some of those lists with my OH, so when he is out at lunchtime he can see if there is anything he can do. Evernote also has a web clipper, where I can clip pages, recipes etc from the web. I have an Evernote notebook set up as an 'Inbox' where those things go, so that I can then sort them in to their proper place.

Scannable is an app that you can use to scan and digitise documents. It creates searchable content, so if you scan a phone bill, it will create tags so that you can search for it. You can set it up to send things directly to Evernote (mine goes to my 'Inbox'), and you can still search for the tags in Evernote.

Sortly is great if you are moving house, or if you want to keep an inventory of belongings for insurance. If you are moving house you can use it to list the items in a box, and then print a label with a QR code to stick on your box. We have recently done two moves (one international) in six months, so it was invaluable to me!

specialsubject · 08/04/2018 17:25

If it is related to tax it needs to be kept for seven years. One in, one out.

Don't keep docs with your home address in the car.

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