Recent changes in UK voting legislation mean you need to prove your identity to vote, which brought the question of ID documents to the fore. As you’ll have noticed during the general election, voters had to produce photo ID at the polling station. You may also need various forms of paper ID to:
- get a mortgage or borrow money
- rent a home
- undergo a DBS check to volunteer or work with children and vulnerable people
- claim some benefits
- open a bank account
- get married or divorced
- apply for a job
- apply for an academic course
Which paper documents should I keep handy?
Here is a round-up of the paper documents you’ll want to keep close to hand.
1. Birth and adoption certificates
You will need your birth or adoption certificate at various stages in your life – for example, when you register for a school place or a university course, and when you get married. You may also need to show them to your employer when starting a new job.
2. Passports
We still need to carry a physical passport when we travel. Passports are also used when proving your identity.
3. Marriage, civil partnership and divorce certificates
Marriage and civil partnership certificates may be needed when proving your identity or when applying for benefits. You’ll need a divorce certificate to re-marry.
4. Qualifications
Many academic qualifications are still issued as paper certificates, which you may need to produce for job applications, or applications for courses.
5. House deeds and rental agreements
House deeds prove that you own a property, and you may need them to sell it or re-mortgage. Rental agreements are useful in case of a dispute between tenant and landlord. Both parties should hang on to their copy until renewal, or until the deposit is returned.
6. Pensions
Keep papers relating to all the workplace pensions you accumulate over your career as this will make claiming the money you are owed much easier when the time comes.
What papers can I keep in my storage unit?
Your storage unit is a good place to keep papers that you don’t need immediately to hand.
Many documents are worth keeping for a few years, but are of no value after that. An example of this would be warranties, or documents kept for tax reasons. It’s a good idea to have a plan for disposal of your documents so you don’t keep accumulating them year after year. We recommend clearly dating the folders or boxes so you know when it’s safe to clear them out. This post will tell you more about how long to keep various kinds of paper.
Many people also have papers that they want to keep indefinitely, for example old notebooks or diaries. Or you may have notes from courses and personal development that you don’t need to refer to every day, but would like to keep.
Or you might have family papers and photo albums that you feel might be of interest to someone one day.
Climate-controlled storage will keep your papers in the best condition in case you ever need to refer to them again.
How much does self-storage cost monthly?
The cost of self-storage varies by provider, and by how much space you want. We strongly recommend getting a few quotes from different local self-storage providers. We’ve got a post to walk you through the process of getting a self-storage quotation.
One tip we can give you for saving money on your monthly self-storage bill is to shop around for your self-storage insurance. This insurance is mandatory with most self-storage facilities – but you can often get a good deal from a specialist provider like us. Get a quick quote to see how much you should be paying for self-storage insurance.
