My poor old Dad is in Hospital, and its very unlikley he will ever leave there,

I have been given the task of dealing with all the paperwork in his study/loft/garage, and there is boxs and boxs of the stuff

Dad was an accountant, and has every single, bank statment, credit card water electric gas etc etc that has ever been sent to him, and he is 77 now. so obvousley there is quite a lot!

So what d i do with it all ?
Is there companys out there that will securely shred items?

obvousley i will sort it through and make sure we dont throw away anything valuable,

we have a shredder (household one) but it would take me months to shred this lot

Also I only keep this type of paperwork for a couple of years, and apart from payslips everything else is shredded

What does everyone else do ?

Thanks!!

Steve

You can get a company in to securely shred it, or get an incinerator - the dustbin type. the only problem with burning it, is you have to turn it in order to burn all of it. A gas fired incinerator would be better though if there is That much, then id probably get a shredding company in.

Sorry to hear that, can't be easy.

I've worked at companies who have employed a professional shredding companies. They turn up with a big lorry which has an enormous shredder in the back which they chuck whole wheelie bins in at once.
I suspect they usually work on contract rather than one off, but worth asking.

First two google found http://www.shredstation.co.uk/
http://www.bettershred.co.uk/

No idea what they cost. A bonfire would be cheaper.

Do you not know someone with an buisness shredder? We have one at work and it wallops through all my paperwork.

Although if you've got a lot to get through I'd also resort to a bonfire. Although I might be tempted to put all the paperwork in a bucket of paraffin first to make sure it doesn't take hours to burn down

obviously a word of warning,

keep all the recent stuff, as when it comes time for probate etc you will need more paper records for everything then you would have thought possible.

hth

I burn all mine in my chimnea. In you situation id buy a metal dustbin and burn the lot in that.

wood chipper then bonfire/make briquettes

If it's all in box files, or some form where you can make a tall pile, stack them all up, then light a flower pot of thermite on the top. I'd bet that would rip through a stack of paper in no time, and all the stuff to make it is available off eBay.

Chris

try a company called Box It, they specialise in this type of work and in your area. they also provide scanning and sorage services for any docs you need to retain. used them several times for work and always been pleased with their services.

I feel for you - my Mom passed away in December and we sit with the same problem - It's really hard to decide what to keep and what to destroy. As an indication she has every cheque stub from the purchase of her engagement ring in 1946 to her last cheque. And then you have old photos going back a century or more - valuable family history that one doesn't know whether to keep or toss (some of the people one can't even identify), and then all the bric bracs of 91 years of life.

I've been told accounts have to be kept for seven years (from accountants and the tax office) so anything work related dating before 2004 can go. However it would be worth having a look if there's anything important. Maybe ask another accountant what to look for?