How Long To Keep Your Paperwork For

It’s coming up to the time of the year where I love decluttering and organising. Although for me that’s a year round love. Over the Christmas break in between movies, chocolate eating and relaxing I love to take the quieter time to sort through things. And life admin and paperwork may down like a really dull task but setting up a good system can save you time and worry in the long run.

If your paperwork and filing system is bulging it might be time for a declutter. There are some things you can look at digitising to get rid of the paper itself. But anything you do get rid of make sure you shred.

Paperwork you should keep forever

There are some things you just need to keep hold of forever so put these in a safe space, perhaps even invest in a document safe for these.

Marriage/ birth/ death certificates/ house deeds (if you’ve paid off y0ur mortgage)

These things can be quite costly and a bit of a hassle to replace so keep hold of them.

Wills, pensions and life insurance paperwork

It might sound morbid, but make sure your beneficiaries know where your life insurance policy and will is placed. In the event they’re needed it will save your loved ones searching for them.

Pet vaccination records

You should keep all of your pets records for their lifetime so you can refer back to them. It will also help you make a note for when they need boosters and vaccinations in the future. And a pet passport lasts forever so if you do travel with them you’ll need this.

Medical paperwork

It’s worth keeping any medical paperwork safe such as a medical exemption certificate, any Children’s Personal Child Health Records, etc. You should also keep a note of your NHS number as you’ll need this if you change GP.

National insurance number

You should keep hold of your NI card forever as it’s an important number you’ll need throughout your life. If you’ve lost your card you should be able to find it on a payslip/ P60/ tax return. But if not you can apply for a replacement card.

Your cars V5C paperwork

This is the logbook paper document to prove that you own the vehicle you are driving. You’ll need this paperwork if you ever come to sell your car so you can sign it over to the new owners.

Tax records

Whether you work for an employer and get annual P60’s, or whether you’r self employed and submit your own taxes it’s always worth keeping a copy. For those who submit their own taxes you don’t need to print everything, just the tax overview is fine. For those self employed you only need to keep your tax return for five years after the 32 January online tax return deadline. But if you have the space it’s worth keeping them for longer.

Documents to keep for their lifetime

There are some documents you should keep for the length of time that they’re valid for. Once they are no longer valid or you replace them there’s no need to keep the old one. When you’re keeping hold of paperwork put them into an expanding folder and label the areas clearly such as car, home, warranties etc so you can find things easily.

Passport & Driving license

These two kind of go without saying, as if you want to travel you’ll need your passport, and if you drive a vehicle you’ll need your drivers license. Plus both can be used as ID.

Warranty paperwork

You might get automatic warranties for some appliances and technical items so keep these safe and make a note of their expiry date. This also includes any additional warranties you may have bought.

Vehicle paperwork

Anything related to your vehicle such as car insurance, road tax and MOT certificates should be hung onto until they expire. If you only get your car insurance digitally it’s worth printing off a hard copy of the overview to keep in a safe place. If you don’t already get notifications from the car itself or your garage then set up a reminder of when your MOT is due.

Paperwork to keep for a year

There are some things that you don’t need to keep forever, but they’re worth keeping hold off for the year.

Payslips

If you’re employed then keep hold of your payslips until you receive your P60. Once you have your P60 you don’t need to keep hold of them any longer. But if you are looking to apply for a mortgage you’ll need a few months payslips to show.

Utility bills

Most of us pay our bills online now so if you do then don’t worry about this. But if you do get physical bills keep them for a year just in case there are any issues, or you need to compare them when looking for a new supplier.

Do you have organised paperwork?

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