# how long to keep old bills for?



## seaflower (4 Mar 2007)

How long are we supposed to keep old bills for (e.g. ESB, Gas, bank statements, Vodafone, etc)

I have some dating back to 2002, which I think it's time to throw away. Is one year back enough?


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## SarahMc (4 Mar 2007)

For what purpose would you keep them?  If you are self employed, I believe you have to keep them for 5 years if they are a business expense.  If not, check the next bill is correct against the last one, and chuck the last one, always keeping only one bill.


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## Joe1234 (5 Mar 2007)

SarahMc said:


> If you are self employed, I believe you have to keep them for 5 years if they are a business expense.



I thought it was 7 years.

As to the Op, keep them for as long as you think you will need them? Would you be likely to need to refer back to them?


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## Crugers (5 Mar 2007)

SarahMc said:


> ... and chuck the last one, ...


For privacy and security sake, don't chuck it away, destroy it. A "recent" utility bill can be used as I.D. for fraudulent purposes. Better safe than sorry...


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## Towger (5 Mar 2007)

A few years ago the ESB arrived at an elderly relative’s house to cutoff his electricity. Luckily he had still had the last few bills to prove they had been paid!

ESB bills etc should be destroyed. In the days of ESB shops it was possible to walk in and buy good on the never never, just using a bill as ID. 

Towger


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## seaflower (7 Mar 2007)

Not self employed, but thought I should keep some of them in case of problems (e.g. they claim I haven't paid, etc) Had problems with ADT (monitored alarm) in the past, they were overcharging and refused to reprint bills. Luckily we had copies


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