Piles of bank statements!

SCUD

Hi... I am not sure if this is the right area to post my question.

I have piles of paper bank statements and credit cards statements. They are back to years ago.

I always thought I need to have them to “prove my existence” in case something happens and to prove for example that in July 2009 I was here and here is my bank statement!

Two years ago I started tuning down this habit or paranoia!
So I started keeping 4 statements a year (1 from each quarter). But still I am running out of space to store them.

I might sound crazy but how do you think I should organise that matter? Does someone really needs one day a statement which is 10 years old?

Any tips, experience or advise would be highly appreciated.

Willing2Learn

I keep all statements for six years. Once six years has lapsed, then I shred them.

kazwookie

Do you have a scanner? if so scan them and shred.


I keep 6 years worth, and online / paperless if I can via the bank.

mgdavid

Go fully online banking, choose paperless.
Download all statements as pdf files, store on CD / USB stick / the Cloud as you wish.

IvanDP

Completely paperless here.
I view my statements via online banking, but never download them, unless I have a need for them, which in this digital age is very rare if at all.

couriervanman

SCUD wrote: »

Hi... I am not sure if this is the right area to post my question.

I have piles of paper bank statements and credit cards statements. They are back to years ago.

I always thought I need to have them to “prove my existence” in case something happens and to prove for example that in July 2009 I was here and here is my bank statement!

Two years ago I started tuning down this habit or paranoia!
So I started keeping 4 statements a year (1 from each quarter). But still I am running out of space to store them.

I might sound crazy but how do you think I should organise that matter? Does someone really needs one day a statement which is 10 years old?

Any tips, experience or advise would be highly appreciated.

Bin the whole lot.....most banks online statements go back years,my two banks Lloyds & Halifax go back 7 years

DCFC79

You haven't needed them up to this point so shred them and go paperless, all the statements are online.

JuicyJesus

Anything past six years is rather pointless to keep, arguably less than that even.

I have boxes of paper statements because we need to evidence cohabitation and income for visa purposes, but then these only go back about two and a half years. Even UKVI don't care where I was six years ago.

Unless your tax records aren't straightforward I personally wouldn't worry about, at a minimum, scanning on and then shredding anything before October 2013.

Owain_Moneysaver

SCUD wrote: »

Does someone really needs one day a statement which is 10 years old?

I actually did (or it was easier that I had it). I could use a bank statement from 10 years ago, and a current bank statement, both with the same account details, to show that I was the person of my former address as named in a Will.

Maybe the annual council tax bill would have been sufficient, and that's a lot less to keep than 12 bank statements a year.

sal_III

Just reduce the current lot to 1 per quarter for just your main current account. Shred the rest. The resulting pile will hardly be bigger than a shoe box.

If you feel extra paranoid get digital copies of the ones you shred, either directly from your online banking or via scanning (there are apps for your phone if you don't have a dedicated scanner).

badmemory

Can't DWP & HMRC ask for 20 years? There are certainly threads on here that state that when someone has died & they have been claiming anything that was means tested the DWP has requested statements back to the date of the original claim! So take state pension at the then age of 65, die at 95 having claimed pension credit, that is 30 years.