Keeping Paid-Bill Receipts For Years

[Dinger2]

I'm the kind of cautious person who afetr paying a gas,electric or phone-bill,then files it away in order for years and years (average 3-5yrs) just in case one day a utility company may contact me and say you didn't pay us for a certain quarter 3yrs ago (mistrustful me) so then I could produce it and say "Oh yes I have!" I'm just thinking maybe I don't have to keep them nowhere near that long ? Opinions please.

[237SJ]

I keep a bill until the next one comes in and then I throw it away. I keep bank statements for 1 year.

[DTCwordfan]

7 years in my case...exposure on the taxman.

[Buenchico]

As recent utility bills can be used for the purposes of identity theft I read them, check them, double check them and then immediately shred them.

However retaining some receipts is definitely worth while. When the Woolwich Building Society sent me a 'notice of intention to repossess', because I'd not been making any mortgage payments, I found it rather useful to be able to produce my receipt for the payment of over £35k which I'd made a few months earlier so as to pay the mortgage off!

[Buenchico]

A further point:
Many (most?) people don't even get paper utility bills any longer; most billing is done entirely online.

[MASS1961]

I have an online account with TV, Phone, Mobile and all Utilities so no paper bills.
I used to have boxes of them. I get emailed bills now, I could print and file if I wanted but I simply save them to a named folder.

Other than that I do save receipts for bigger payments but only for a month or two.

[Maydup]

I shred the phone bill as soon as its paid, but I keep the electricity bills for a year or so because I like to look back to see if the payments match the useage over the year. But I do have a good clear out when the folder is difficult to close.

Mr M shreds everything. Sometimes he tells me about a letter he's had from the pension dept or the hospital but having deemed it a load of old rubbish, its shredded before I'm home from work! One thing we're not between us and that's hoarders.

[VHG]

Why not scan the bills into a computer and then shred the originals.

[TWR]

My Mortgage Statements from 1998 have come in very hand with my PPI Claim Dinger.

[TWR]

Mortgage

[boxtops]

I keep them for a year. Bank statements on-line now. I keep anything to do with income tax (the file looks like forever, but certainly for 7 years).

[Baldric]

Utility bills, until the next one arrives'
Mortgage statements, got the lot.
Other bills 12/18 months.