How long should I keep bank statements?

debt_obsessed

Hi all,

This answer is probably somewhere but i've done a quick search and couldn't find the answer.

I'm sorting through all my paperwork tonight, having a mini spring clean if you like! and just wanted to know how long should I hold on to bank statements for?

Thanks x

Katy_M_2

I like being clutter free and recently shredded all my bank statements.

Shortly after, I decided to go through the process of renting my own flat and needed 6 months statements to show my estate agents....I also applied for my credit report from Experian and they asked for the same.

I would keep 6 months worth just incase you need to show them to anybody (online banking doesnt always store that many)

That's only my humble opinion though.

Of course...if you are running a business you need to keep 6 years worth! :eek:

debt_obsessed

Thank you - 6 months sounds reasonable to me! I hate having lots of paperwork hanging around - luckily I'm not running a business

rayday2

Baz Luhrmann said

"Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Don’t feel guilty if
you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people
I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t."

But in the real world I tend to shred most of my things at the end of the financial year when I get my P60's etc but I do keep 6 months in case I want to query any activity on my account etc

Gambit

What I do (or been meaning to do) is to scan all my important statements before shreading them. My thinking behind this is that you never know when you'll want to check for something on your statement and it doesnt take much space on the harddrive to keep a scanned copy of your statments.

98jdougl

I have them all on online banking- don't get paper statements anymore and they hold details of 7 years of statements I think it said

Katy_M_2

Scanning them is a really good idea!!! It's sods law that after you shred a statement...something will happen and you will need to check it!

My on-line banking only stores a couple of months which is pretty useless

BeautyandtheBeast_3

i have all mine going back 8 years i some cases - its really hard for me to throw stuff out! xxx

Gambit

98jdougl wrote: »

I have them all on online banking- don't get paper statements anymore and they hold details of 7 years of statements I think it said

I have online banking too but even then you can normally save it as a PDF and keep it on your own PC. As sometimes they only keep a certain number of statements eg. Egg Money only keeps one year online.

BeautyandtheBeast wrote: »

its really hard for me to throw stuff out!

I know the feeling...

Tixy

Well if you are in business bank statements should be kept for 7years as HMRC can go back & investigate for 6full tax years. Its also how long the bank has to keep the same data. Arguably if you are receiving any benefit (such as tax credits) HMRC could potentially ask to look back for 6full years. Unlikely maybe but possible.

GeorgeUK

I wouldn't bother keeping statements for more than 2 years. If you need anything older than this you can do a subject access request for £10 and get the last 6 years worth of transactions.