How to safely destroy (a large quantity of) valid checks?

Question

A while ago I had my bank issue me new checks due to a change of name (I got married). However I still have many hundreds of checks with the out of date info (they're an online bank and issue about 1000 checks at once, and I have several accounts with them).

Because these old checks are still valid (in date, and with my real account info on them) I do not feel comfortable just throwing them in the trash. However I do not have a shredder capable of shredding whole check books (and separating many hundreds of checks to shred individually would take a long time).

Is there a better way to dispose of these old checks? I have considered burning them but am fairly sure there are enough of them that doing so would set off my fire alarms (I live in an apartment complex where setting off the fire alarms will activate sprinklers in the entire building which is not desirable.)

I do not know if there is any kind of service that can securely destroy check books? Or if there is some norm of sending them back to the bank?

Failing that is there some way to securely dispose of them, either destroying them myself or taking them to someone (ideally in person or via a secure courier) who can destroy them for me, ideally with minimal expense and minimal risk of the checks or my identity being stolen?

(I did notice a few other questions which were similar, however they were about checks with were no longer valid, for closed accounts or after a change of account number, these are fully valid usable checks, just with the wrong name.)

Answer 1

Simple: Use a secure shredding vendor. Some vendors offer different tiers with different disposal practices, for checks you would obviously want to choose the more (most) secure option.

Many office supply vendor chains offer secure shredding services - UPS Store, Office Depot, PostNet, and so on. Googling for your local branches should give you an idea of what's available in your area, and you can read their terms and conditions to determine if the shredding services they offer are secure enough for your comfort level.

In addition, there are vendors targeted specifically at document storage and/or shredding: Iron Mountain, Confidata, Proshred, and so on - again, a google search should tell you more.

Finally, some government waste disposal entities may offer secure shredding services - In the US, my local County recycling authority offers secure shredding if you bring your documents to one of their facilities according to their scheduled availability, and they will also hand you off to local secure shredding vendors if you have additional needs.

If you were especially paranoid, you could call your bank and get a stop payment placed on the range of check numbers for the checks you're destroying, although your bank will likely advise you that that's not necessary since you're shredding them.

Answer 2

The norm for disposing of old checks is destroying them, if you really wanted a non-shredder option you could cut a significant portion off and just burn those, or dispose of larger pieces at separate times/locations.

However, with a name change you can typically just keep using them. Sign your new name. The name/address portion at the top is mostly a convenience. My wife (and many others) have done this without issue. Same goes for address, it's rarely referenced and acceptable to simply cross out and correct if desired.

Answer 3

Use them to make papier mache. Place them in a bucket of water, let them sit for a while, stirring/mashing occasionally, until they become a pulp. Then either discard the mess, or use it creatively: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-m%C3%A2ch%C3%A9

Answer 4

Why on earth did you only consider burning them inside your apartment?

Go outside and find somewhere without many people. Could be a park, side of the road somewhere, even an alleyway if you can't easily get out of the city. (Improved idea from Geobits: if you're worried about lighting a fire just anywhere, or if there are local rules about it, many parks have areas for fires or barbecues.) And then light them.

If you've got a book of 1000 then you do need to stop them from just charring the outside ones and leaving the inside ones intact. If you stand the book up and fan them out in a semicircle, there's more surface area so they'll burn more efficiently.

If you've got a camping gas stove you can bring with you, burning them is even easier. Just put them on top of the stove and light it - the gas flame will make short work of them.

Answer 5

At least in the UK (but I suspect also in the US), many offices use secure collections bins (see below) to dispose of confidential papers that are no longer needed. These are collected periodically by a service company and securely shredded (often essentially on-premises using a mobile shredder). The ones I've seen would be able to handle an unseparated chequebook, so if you (or a friend/relative you trust sufficiently) works in such a place, you/they could potentially dispose of your cheques there.

^{Source: Identity Destruction website (no affiliation: found through web-search).}

Answer 6

Take them to the bank branch, ask them to destroy the cheques for you.

Answer 7

Many neighborhoods/towns have a "shred day", "secure destruction day", or something similar where industrial-grade devices are made available to the public. Usually you'll go to the town hall or somewhere similar and there will be massive shredders or incendiary devices at your disposal to get rid of large volumes of sensitive documents. See if there's something like this available and just hold on to your checks until then.

Alternative answer: take them to your bank. Surely they have tons of paper to be destroyed on a regular basis.

Simple answer: soak the checkbooks in bleach and toss them.

Non-answer: Your account number isn't the most secret thing. You give it out every time you use a check. You could safely toss them and be fine.

Answer 8

You are overestimating the task of tearing up several thousand checks, and also overestimating the persistence of scavengers pawing through your garbage in search of treasure.

I faced the same problem when I had about 300 checks left over when I retitled more than several accounts. It really didn't take that long to tear them in fours and put them in with the garbage (not with the clean trash). Maybe 10 minutes, max. Multiply that by 10 (say you have 3,000 checks) and divide by two (one other person to help), that is an hour's work apiece. But tedious! And a little hard on the finger-nails.

So make it a game. Use creativity.

Put them in your cat's litter box (I have not tried this) and scoop them out with the poop and urine and put them in the poop bag. This will take several weeks, but they will be fragrant enough to be difficult to pass. If you don't have a cat, keep reading.

Better, put them in a large bucket with Cloxox or with paint (stir well), then put them in with the garbage. Make the garbage smelly and repulsive with grease, egg shells, decayed and slimy vegetables... and whatever else your creativity suggests.

This is maybe too elaborate and frivolous an answer, but it will absolutely keep anyone from searching through that garbage in the hope of finding treasure.

Answer 9

The bank branch I occasionally visit has a secure disposal bin with a slot big enough to take chequebooks. This is freely available to customers, next to the ATMs/paying in machines inside the branch.

While your bank may be online only, they may be part of a larger bank that isn't (several online banks in the UK work this way). As a First Direct customer, going into a branch of HSBC (parent company) I reckon I could dispose of a handful of chequebooks securely without any trouble.

Answer 10

Is there a mechanical workshop close by?

One person with an oxyacetylene torch will make a burn through within seconds. Then just dump them regularly. Bring some donuts for the mechanics, ask them nicely, should get done within half a minute.

Answer 11

You need to ensure that you destroy your address and MICR to protect your privacy.

Simply tearing up the checks, using scissors, or a cheap strip cutting shredder are not sufficient; even improperly burned paper can be read. Here's a surefire method:

Answer 12

Rip checks out of book. Rip in half. Put in garbage. Repeat.

As a teenager, I did this after my mom inherited a ton of stuff including thousands of checks. We sat on the floor talking, ripping out about five checks at a time, ripping them in half, and throwing them away. Maybe an hour?

Don't get fancy. Don't drive anywhere. Don't use special tools. Don't hire anyone. This takes less time than you are going to spend looking for alternatives.

Answer 13

I have checks with old addresses on them and they work just fine. All that matters is the routing and account numbers on the bottom.

Thus, There’s no need to shred old checks. If the account is open, they’ll work. If the account is closed, they won’t.

Answer 14

You already said the answer. Get a shredder. You should probably have one anyways. You should be able to shred 20 or 30 checks at a time without a problem with most shredders if you take the back cardboard off the checkbook. It should only take you a few minutes if the two of you do it together. One tears the checks, one feeds into the shredder. It'll be a whole lot less time than driving around town looking for a secure shred box, or making a fire in the back yard.

Answer 15

I would simply get a nice big tube of paper glue (the flowy stuff, not the quick-setting sticks) and spread liberally. Then off into the bin. Should make short work of it and be quick and fun.

If you want to get creative and really have thousands of cheques, you could get wallpaper paste; you mix that up with water anyway and can make it quite flowy, so it gets between all the paper just fine with little to no effort on your side.

Answer 16

Destroy them.

Put them in a garbage bag with water and dish soap for a few days. They will become unusable.

Answer 17

Why can't you just drive out of town and set them on fire somewhere?

Answer 18

If your office has a paper cutter, you could probably cut through a book of checks with that. Cut them into ten or so strips, collect them into ten piles, and throw the piles into ten different garbage cans throughout the city. If you're feeling extra paranoid, burn the ten piles in a barbeque pit, then throw the ten piles of ash into ten separate garbage cans. You also said that in the comments that your company has a paper shredding service, so you can use that, either by itself, or in combination with the above (that is, put the ten piles in the shredder on different days). You said that you're not sure they're for employees, but who else would they be for? (Maybe you meant "I don't think they're for employees' private use", but I don't think there's much marginal cost to throwing in some books of checks.)

Answer 19

If you have a garbage disposal, it's a great way to shred paper (not plastic). Throw a few checks ripped in half every time you run it. Been doing it for a year and never had a problem.