If you’re like me, you have a ton of paperwork and though you try to file it correctly, it ends up floating about everywhere. It can be difficult knowing exactly what you need to keep so I thought I’d write a post today detailing what things you should be keeping forever, what things you need to keep for a certain amount of time and what things you can bin straight away.
As a self employed person, I need to keep my records for five years after the submission deadline. I luckily have kept all my records but I know of plenty who haven’t and have got rid of their records of returns filed more recently.
Keep Forever
- Marriage, birth and death certificates – you never know when you might need this document.
- Wills and house deeds – these are needed for after your demise so the execution of your estate runs smoothly.
- V5C logbook – for as long as you own the car, you need to keep this safe.
- Pension documentation – we’ve all seen how many people are finding their lost pensions recently. This can easily be avoided by keeping your documents safe.
- Pet records – keep all records of your pets vaccinations, surgeries etc in case you need them at a future date.
- Life insurance – many people will only have their records online but it is recommended to print off the documents so that your beneficiaries can find them easily should you die.
- NHS number and National Insurance number – You don’t necessarily need to keep every piece of paperwork with these numbers on but these are very important numbers that you will need in your life so ensure you either know them off by heart or have them written down and stored somewhere safely.
Keep Until Expired
- Car documents – these include MOT, tax, insurance – anything that will last for a specific amount of time before being renewed or changed. Once they are no longer valid, you can dispose of them.
- Passport and driving licence – once these are out of date and you have new ones, cut them up and send back to the relevant authorities.
- Council tax bill – Whether you pay it all in one go or pay it monthly, keep the bill until the end of the council tax year is up so you always know how much you should be paying and can keep an eye out for any mistakes.
- Deposit agreement – we just went through this. I refused to get rid of our rental agreement for our old property until our deposit was returned in case of any disputes. We had so many problems in that house – many which were existing when we moved in – and I was not going to let them withhold our deposit because of them so wanted to make sure I had some security. It has now been shredded and disposed of.
- Warranties – we all take out warranties on different things – you can get rid of the paperwork once these have run out unless you choose to extend them.
Dispose As They Arrive
Now not everyone will agree with these below but with the age of online accounts and internet banking – do we really need to waste paper or keep paperwork that we don’t require?
- Energy bills – All suppliers offer an online account now so you can switch to paperless billing. On the off chance you do receive a paper bill, you can shred and dispose of as all the information is readily available on your online account which can be printed off.
- Bank statements – The same goes for banks and building societies, providing you have internet banking enabled. Obviously you won’t be able to dispose of these if you don’t have internet banking but if you do, switch to paperless billing and again, records can be easily accessed if required.
What do you do with your paperwork?
