Bank Statements

I don’t get bank statements as I went paperless a long while ago. My pension paperwork and tax code letters I keep for 5 yrs then shred. Any other paperwork apart from guarantees I shred after 1 or 2 yrs.

HMRC say you should keep your Tax paperwork for 22 months, but I don’t trust them, as we have self employed paperwork as well and have to keep those for 5 years, I keep it all for 5 years.
Anything major I just keep, old final mortgage paperwork is still in a file, guarantees, Insurance paperwork, sales of buy to let’s, I figure if I’ve kept it and HMRC pop up and tell me I owe them money at least I can try to fight back.
Mind you it does take up quite a few shelves in the cupboard.

I keep statements for 6 years, though crucial financial documents I keep for ever.

Interesting post as I've got bag fulls of old bank statements from my late parents who did not throw anything like that away. Dad died just over 6 years ago and mum 2 years ago and I'm not sure how long I can keep the statements and various paperwork. As they had a joint account, do I have to wait the required time (however long that us) until mum has been gone or can I shred sooner as dad died nearly 5 yrs previously to her ?

It was a good thing I had kept mine for over ten years to prove payments and transfers. As I have space in the cellar I keep all of them even payslips which is useful here, to claim your pension and any queries that might crop up in the future.

I've gone for Internet Banking and Online Statements for absolutely everything!

I’ve got all my P60s which does away with the need to save payslips- I’ll get rid of them at the end of the year when my SP gets paid as my entitlement will no longer need proof!

I keep bank statements, receipted bills etc. for the length of time that the tax authorities can demand an audit, plus one or two years extra.

When I have done my year's Income tax and put all the papers in a large envelope, I write the year on the outside and throw out (read destroy) the oldest envelope when I put the new one away.

I haven't need any of it yet, but you never know, do you?

So sorry to hear about your husband's death, Georgesgran.

I find Internet banking an absolute boon and very safe, plus got the bank to check my budget figures when we had lived in this house a year, and have an account that all bills are paid from by direct debit. A twelfth of the annual total needed goes into that account each month and I regulate that amount at the end of each year.

It really has given me peace of mind, as I know the money to pay the bills is there!

I keep mine for 7 years. My husband keeps his forever. He has some from 1977 when he started work.

It's not just about tax is it? In the recent mis-selling scandals there was no limit on how long ago people could claim back for. I get printed bank statements as well as having them online and I shan't ever throw any away. My kids can do that when the time comes.

I always kept everything from way back when I first started work at 16. Some 25 years later I was self-employed and my accountant told me I only needed to keep financial documents for 7 years. I never got around to disposing of the very early stuff which turned out to be very lucky as a few years later I discovered I was eligible for a pension from my first work placement, and needed documentation to claim it. When we moved house 10 years ago I finally got rid of a lot of very old paperwork that was no longer needed. I don't do internet banking, just don't trust the security and DH prefers things on paper, so now we keep bank statements for 3 years and more important documents indefinitely.

When my father died we found payslips from when he worked at the National Physical Laboratory in the late 1940s and all the later ones. Plus the bill for the 2nd hand 3 piece suite that my parents bought when they married and later, the bill for having them re-upholstered.

Iv`e never thrown one out,don`t realy know why tbh.

I do online banking, but still like to get paper statements. Must admit I have files in the loft going back to when I started work I think, which was 1969!

That’s plain daft I know, our shredder is on its last legs. When I get a new one I must get shredding. Don’t want to leave it all for someone else to do.

Having said that, I will still keep things for a while, as you never know when you want to look something up.

Happysexagenarian

I was in a similar position. The bank where I worked decided to add overtime/extra hours worked to your pension, but you had to provide proof of hours. Because I had retained every pay slip, I was eligible for another two years to my pension.

Made me realise it didn’t hurt to keep stuff for several years past.

Just had a call from HMRC to say a warrant has been taken out in Dh’s name for fraud! A recorded message lol

I keep hard copies of bank statements until i balance our books then I get rid of them as I can always download them again if I need them. Government paperwork I tend to keep longer. Also It basically depends on when my husband has the overwhelming urge to clean out our filing cabinets as to hiw long paperwork lasts in our house

Having just been dealing with Probate, they need information from the last 7 years. I had always thought 5.

Seven years.

Yes, we thought it was five but... as I posted on here a long time ago we nearly got caught out. At one job DH had they kept under deducting his tax. We kept telling both employer and tax office that was the case. Eventually we got a tax demand for £2000 which we paid. About six years later we got a letter demanding payment of the same. I had happily been shredding bank statements over 5 years old so no help there to prove we paid. Phoned bank up. They only keep them for five years. Fortunately noticed that the demand letter had a different address in the north whereas we had paid another office, in Wales, I think. Managed to get them talking to each other so all sorted. I haven’t shredded a bank statement since then!

When we got married 20 years ago DH was 57 and had every bank statement and pay slip from when he started work at 15. He threw them out, apart from the last 6 years, last year.

Wendy

Just had a call from HMRC to say a warrant has been taken out in Dh’s name for fraud! A recorded message lol

Yes, me too! ?? Oh dear, aren't we naughty! Do you think they have a special cell for GNetters? ??

I bank online but I do keep printed statements for 3 years.

its coming up for 10 years since my husband died and I was told then by HMRC to keep stuff for 7 years. All of my financials are online now so they get kept forever