I purge paper after a year or two at most, and keep very limited important stuff digitally (I have my tax returns going back 5-10 years.) I really don't think

I purge paper after a year or two at most, and keep very limited important stuff digitally (I have my tax returns going back 5-10 years.) I really don't think many people keep substantial amounts of paper records. The government policy cited upthread was clearly a scandal; most UK citizens would be unable to satisfy the same standard of proof, if that was in fact the test.