What paperwork/statements to keep?

[singthing]

I know the usual advice is or was to keep payslips, HMRC docs, bank/credit card statements for 6 years (and/or they are available online anyway).

But what about all the other pieces of paper - utility bills, council tax, car stuff, assorted ephemera?

Most of my accounts have become online-only but I have several folders worth of paper from before then. I currently have a secure shredding facility at my disposal, so keen to make use of it!

I don’t keep bank statements, they are on line.
I only keep the last 12 months of council tax/car insurance etc, regularly have a clear out.
Had to clear out after a parent died last year and they had many, many years of paper bank statements and other paperwork including manuals for electric goods long since broken. I’m not leaving that for my kids to do/

We don’t get paper utility bills or bank statements etc. The only paper bill we get is council tax which I keep for the current year only.

Keep P60’s forever

My P60’s are online, on the e-pay system that work uses.

And can you access them once you leave the current job ? Mine are on line but I print a hard copy and take a photo on my phone each year. @PersephoneParlormaid

If I were to leave I’d download them for the last few years.

Why?

What purpose does a 10 year old P60 serve?

I have a print out or keep an online copy of P60s, I keep all of them forever, I wouldn't leave them in a workplace portal. Dividends and shares stuff, I keep for at least 6 years. utilities bills are online anyway but any I have had a dispute with I print out for reference. Keep all house stuff like Fensa certificates and electric and boiler checks as you will need them if you move

There are very few occasions when you need stuff for years, one of them is if a parent gets benefits like pension credits and dies, DWP have been known to want you to produce bank statements for the deceased for possibly 20 years if they think they may have over claimed which is quite a task. Anything to do with benefits I would keep for years.

@LittleBearPadThere was a lady on here who found her NI record had been wiped. So she had no credit for many years. She had not kept her P60’s and could not prove she had paid her NI contributions. It was a very horrid situation for that lady.
The P60 form says on it ‘please keep forever’ or similar.

computers can be hacked, or have a glitch or just lose data. NI credits are such a gateway to so many benefits, including state pension.

i am printing all mine and keeping them safe. And a photo of them too, in my cloud as well as a screen shot of my government gateway statement that I have paid enough NI to get my state pension.

I'm often asked for proof of residence by way of a recent utilities and/or council tax bill. I keep these until I get the latest one, so max 1 year. I made a will and the solicitor needed 2 proofs of address plus another of identity (evidence I'm not money laundering). If I go to my local recycling station (AKA the Tip) I need to show proof of my address.

Any legal documents, I keep. Also any business related documents like sales records (eg we sell antiques and books) need to be kept for 6 years.

DH retired and hadn't printed out or downloaded his P60s, no surprise there🙄I realised when I was doing a sort out of documents, he couldn't access them as they were in some work portal and had to sort out and make phone calls to his workplace so he could get them, fortunately it was all quite recent and they were fairly easily retrieved

Most bills I have online now including online banking so apart from council tax or something I don’t keep anything. I used to keep loads of bills. Finance docs I tend to keep just to keep an eye on them but again I can go online.

Thanks everyone. It seems like the consensus is broadly:

• P60s/Record of NI/along those lines - keep indefinitely.
• Key house documents (like FENSA certs) - also indefinitely
• Anything annual - keep a rolling year, replaced annually.
• Rest - get ride of paper copies if you can access online?

I am thinking along similar "death cleaning" lines as @PersephoneParlormaid, as well as general decluttering. Looks like I'll have a nice empty cupboard soon!