UNCLAIMED: 670,000 have not yet claimed their UK Child Trust Fund
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More than 670,000 young adults born in the UK between September 2002 and January 2011 have never claimed their Child Trust Fund.
The average savings pot is worth £2,212 (€2,648), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced in late September.
The Child Trust Funds are long-term, tax-free savings accounts set up by the government in 2005 which provided £250 (€299) for every child whose parents received Child Benefit, with an additional £250 for low-income families. This was repeated at the age of seven.
Young people could take control of their Child Trust Fund at 16 and withdraw funds on turning 18 when the account matured.
“If you never claimed your CTF vouchers, it’s worth tracking them down so that your child or children benefit when they turn 18,” HMRC said.
“If you did claim them, it’s worth knowing that you are now allowed to transfer Child Trust Funds into a Junior ISA, which will often give a better rate of return.”
The savings are held by banks, building societies or other providers, not the government, and remain in the account until this has been withdrawn or re-invested.
When vouchers were not invested within one year of issue, HM Revenue and Customs opened a stakeholder account on behalf of the child. Thirty per cent were opened in this way, with a “significant link” between the HMRC-allocated accounts and low income families. There is also a high incidence of “Addressee Gone Away” accounts
If a teenager, their parents or guardians know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. If they do not know where their account is, they can use the online tool on GOV.UK to find their Child Trust Fund provider.
Young people will need their National Insurance number – which can be found easily using the HMRC app – and their date of birth to access the information.
Third-party agents are advertising their services offering to search for Child Trust Funds, but they always charge – in some cases up to £350 (€419) – but there is no need to pay anyone to find a Child Trust Fund.
Furthermore, customers still need to supply them with the same information required to do the search themselves, HMRC pointed out.
Over the last year more than 450,000 people using just their National Insurance number and date of birth, accessed the free GOV.UK tool to locate their Child Trust Fund.
“Thousands of Child Trust Fund accounts are sitting unclaimed,” Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said.
“We want to reunite young people with their money and we’re making the process as simple as possible.”
