Quantcast
Menu
Save, make, understand money

Experienced Investor

HMRC urges teenagers to check for unclaimed child trust fund savings

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
07/09/2021

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging young people to check if they have child trust fund (CTF) savings waiting to be claimed.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers could be missing out on £1,500 each because they have not claimed their cash or they don’t know they have a CTF account.

CTFs were a government scheme available to all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.

Under the scheme, parents or guardians were given vouchers to set up accounts with child trust fund providers, which were usually banks, building societies or investment managers.

If an account was not opened by the child’s parent, HMRC set one up on the child’s behalf.

When the child turns 18, the CTF account matures, and they can withdraw money from the fund. So, last September was the first month teenagers could access their cash.

The average value of a CTF account was £1,500 in 2020.

Between 2002 and early 2011, about six million CTFs were opened by parents or guardians, with a further million set up by HMRC.

According to HMRC, hundreds of thousands of accounts have been claimed so far, but “many have not”.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said: “It’s fantastic that so many young people have been able to access the money saved for them in Child Trust Funds but we want to make sure that nobody misses out on the chance to invest in their future.

“If you’re unsure if you have an account or where it may be, it’s easy to get help from HMRC to track down your provider online.”

Some young people may not know they have a CTF – or some parents or guardians may have forgotten who they set the account up with. To help them find their accounts, HMRC has created an online tool.