Any need to keep fairly old (paper) bank statements, and T&C updates?

Some_Guy

I am doing a big sort out of clutter and paperwork. I'm now, somewhat late to the game, shifting over to paperless statements.

However I have a few boxes and files of old bank and credit card statements going back many years - well beyond 6 years. Many of these reflect the messy financial sitiation I got myself in with credit cards for some time - the credit card accounts were all closed off a few years ago, and since then I have started my 'credit worthiness journey' afresh.

The bank account statements are all, bar one, for accounts that are still open.

I also have several booklets regarding updates to the respective account Terms & Conditions over the years.

Having comprehensively missed the boat on the 'reclaim unfair bank charges' jamboree (which essentially came to an end in 2009 with the Supreme Court ruling), is there any reason to keep these old statements and T&C updates... or can I safely shred or burn* them without the fear of future remorse?

I'd appreciate any words of wisdom on this!

(*I'll obviously recycle anything I can, such as booklets or leaaflets.)

colsten

I can't see a reason for keeping statements for more than 6 years, except perhaps nostalgia. If you have a smartphone, you might be able to scan them into PDFs (in 'Notes' on iPhone, and I am sure there's similar on Androids) and just keep an electronic version.

I can't see even less need for keeping old T&Cs - but again, someone might be interested for their own reasons.

Some_Guy

colsten said:

I can't see a reason for keeping statements for more than 6 years, except perhaps nostalgia. If you have a smartphone, you might be able to scan them into PDFs (in 'Notes' on iPhone, and I am sure there's similar on Androids) and just keep an electronic version.

I can't see even less need for keeping old T&Cs - but again, someone might be interested for their own reasons.

Thanks. I've got no sentimental or nostalgic reasons to keep the statements - quite the opposite, they are a reminder of bad times, at least financially! (As I don't keep a diary I guess they could serve as some sort of record of what I was doing when... but I've no interest in that!)

I think I kept the statements and never dealt with them just in case they could have been useful for reclaiming 'unfair' bank charges, as many people successfully did in the mid-to-late noughties, before the Supreme Court ruling in 2009 more or less put a stop to that.

I was in some prolonged financial difficulty both before and after that, with my head firmly stuck in the sand, so unfortunately I missed that boat. I guess I might have been able to claim even after the 2009 ruling, as I likely counted as being in financial hardship, but I didn't... so I imagine that's that for reclaiming historical bank charges... ?

kaMelo

I know there is a 99.99% chance I'll never have any use for old documentation and statements but that means there is a 0.01% chance I may need them in the future.
So I've been scanning old documents to create a digital version to keep, doing it in batches to not become overwhelming.  They then form part of the usual backup for things like photo's and other important documents. 

Thomas_Crown

Keep six full tax years bank and savings account statements. A few years ago I had a letter from HMRC requesting six years statements for bank and savings accounts. Apparently, it is quite common for them send out letters requesting statements.

kuratowski

I would suggest keeping at least one "official" document so that you can always prove your past address history, even beyond six years (i.e. indefinitely) - council tax bills are ideal for this, IMO.  As per previous posters these don't need to be physical copies, you can scan them and keep them digitally.

GTR_King

I would say keep at least 1 years worth of Bank/Credit card statements together, then keep the rest (3-6 years worth) filled somewhere safely, any longer than that you should only keep for nostalgic reasons 

DCFC79

Id bin the t&cs and the statements, you can always log into the account and download statements if you needed any.

Eco_Miser

DCFC79 said:

Id bin the t&cs and the statements, you can always log into the account and download statements if you needed any.

Unless you can't. E.g. IT outage, Bank 'reviews' your account, account is closed and all access disappears.

kaMelo

DCFC79 said:

Id bin the t&cs and the statements, you can always log into the account and download statements if you needed any.

Also varies depending on the bank.
 RBS/NatWest seem the longest with seven years worth of statements but others only go back twelve months.

GTR_King

Barclays go back about 7 years same with HSBC you will lucky if any Longer