Where to Store Your Important Documents

Storing important documents is absolutely crucial, from wills and insurance policies to mortgage documents and travel documents, you’ll need to know exactly where they are at all times. Not only will this make life easier for you in general, but it will also prevent the need for purchasing copies from the original source, therefore saving you money.

For many of us, storing important documents isn’t a stringent process, meaning the majority of us forget where paperwork has been put, or they could be mistaken for something else and subsequently disposed of, never to be seen again. It’s especially important to keep documents safe in a designated location if you live with other people. This ensures that you’re the only one who is handling such important, private and personal information.

How to keep your important documents safe

Losing important records and documents can prove to be an absolute nightmare. As well as being inconvenient, replacing lost documents can prove to be very costly. To help mitigate this, we’ve presented you with a list of highly-important documents to keep safe and secure.

Passports and travel documents

It’s essential that these documents are filed away safely. Your passport is particularly important, and can be extremely expensive to replace if you lose it. Not only this, but they’re a tempting target for identity thieves, so it’s crucial that it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

In order to prevent a thief from getting their hands on it, hide it somewhere in your home, but it’s important that you remember where you’ve put it. Instead, you could file it away and hide the box file you’ve put it in instead, as it will be harder to lose should you forget exactly where you’ve put it.

When travelling, you should keep your passport:

• In a zip pocket inside a bag or place it on your person. If you’re planning on carrying it in a trouser or coat pocket, take steps to ensure it cannot be easily lifted by pick-pockets.
• In your hand luggage as opposed to your main luggage which will be stored below a coach, for example – this goes for all travel documents and not just your passport.

When you’re not travelling, either store your travel documents in a safe place within your home or take advantage of our documents storage facility here at Darvills Storage.

A Will

Wills are highly complex documents which cannot simply be drafted up and written by ourselves. Solicitors need to be involved and legal fees will need to be paid in order to acquire a valid will.

Once one has been made and a copy has been given to you, it should be immediately filed away safely. Once this has been done, you must tell someone you trust where it is. This way, if something should happen to you, then your will can be easily found and acted upon according to your predetermined wishes.

If a will cannot be found, then your assets won’t be divided up as you wish and a court-appointed administrator will pay off your bills and taxes with your leftover cash, meaning loved ones could receive even less than you desired.

Although the original document will be stored by your solicitor, it’s important that your copy is kept just as safe for the reference of others. Either store your will in a safe, dry place somewhere within your home or use our document storage facility. Once again, tell someone where you’ve stored it, just in case.

Mortgage documents, property bills and banking information

Banking and property-related documents tend to be stored in a more haphazard manner and subsequently forgotten about until you come to sell your home. To prevent you from wading through excessive amounts of disorganised, uncategorised paperwork, keep them in a folder with dividers, or in separate, labelled folders to make life a little easier.

Once you’ve organised all of your important documents, then now would be the perfect time to put them in storage. Either place them on a bookshelf for easy access while at home, put them in a plastic box and place in the attic, or make use of our dedicated, safe and secure document storage facility.

Banking information

Although most banking is done online, there will be several documents which are sent to us by post, or printed in-branch for our own records. It’s important that these are kept in a safe location for future reference. From closing statements to bank statements, it’s important that these sensitive documents are kept secure at all times – you never know when you might need to get your hands on them at short notice.

Like your other important documentation, store them in files and folders and categorise them accordingly. With everything in one place, you’ll be able to access them in no time. To guarantee your information will be kept safe at all times, take full advantage of our document storage facility.

Document storage at Darvills

When people decide that the time has come to move house, it can be difficult to guarantee the safety of your box file, for example. Many things get lost in a house move, but it’s important that your collection of important information doesn’t go missing.

Instead, it’s better to store them away from the hustle and bustle of a house move. You could leave your files with parents, siblings or a partner, but if you’d rather not give someone else the responsibility of looking after your documents, then we have document storage available here at Darvills Storage.

We’re able to provide complete peace of mind, ensuring your paperwork is kept in a dry, secure environment. You’ll be able to come and inspect, remove or add to your paperwork whenever you desire with our storage facilities. So you can rest assured knowing that your important information is kept as safe as possible at all times.

Here at Darvills Storage, we’re able to meet all of your storage needs, regardless of your situation. From domestic, home removals and commercial office removals to self storage and packing materials, we’ll be able to help. For more information about the services we provide and the products we sell, get in touch with a member of our team today – we’re always happy to help.