More than 670,000 18 to 22-year-olds across Great Britain yet to claim their Child Trust Fund are being urged to ‘cash in their stash’ as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveals the average savings pot is worth £2,212. Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts which were set up, with the government depositing £250, for every child born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.
Young people can take control of their Child Trust Fund at 16 and withdraw funds when they turn 18 and the account matures. The savings are not held by the UK Government, but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers – the money stays in the account until it’s withdrawn or re-invested.
If teenagers or their parents and guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. If they do not know where their account is, they can find out using the online tool on GOV.UK.
Young people will need their National Insurance number and their date of birth to access the information.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “Thousands of Child Trust Fund accounts are sitting unclaimed – we want to reunite young people with their money and we’re making the process as simple as possible. You don’t need to pay anyone to find your Child Trust Fund for you, locate yours today by searching ‘find your Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK.”
HMRC is also warning young people and their parents or guardians to be aware of third-party agents advertising their services offering to search for Child Trust Funds as they always charge for this service – one is charging up to £350 or 25 per cent of the value of the savings account.
HMRC said: “Using an agent can significantly reduce the amount received, is likely to take longer and customers still need to supply them with the same information they need to do the search themselves.”
Gavin Oldham from The Share Foundation said: “If you are 18-21 years old, the government would have put money aside for you shortly after birth. This investment would have grown quite a bit and it’s in your name. The Share Foundation has linked over 65,000 young people to their Child Trust Fund accounts. It’s easy and free to find out where your money is.”
In the last year more than 450,000 people, with just their National Insurance number and date of birth, used the free GOV.UK tool to locate their Child Trust Fund.
More information on Child Trust Funds and how to access your savings can be found on GOV.UK.
How to find your Child Trust Fund
If teenagers or their parents and guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. This might be a bank, building society or other savings provider, alternatively, they can visit GOV.UK here and complete an online form to find out where their Child Trust Fund is held.
If a parent or guardian was not able to set up an account for their child, HMRC opened a savings account on the child’s behalf.
Ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund
You can ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund if you’re:
- a parent or guardian of a child under 18
- 16 or over and looking for your own Trust Fund
You can either:
- use the online form to ask HMRC where a Child Trust Fund is
- request the details by post
To use the online form you’ll need:
- your National Insurance number
- a Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you sign in
You can also do it by post, full details are on the dedicated pages on GOV.UK here.
What else you should know
Teenagers aged 16 or over can take control of their own Child Trust Fund if they wish, although the funds can only be withdrawn once they turn 18-years-old. Where children have a Child Trust Fund, families can still pay in up to £9,000 a year tax-free. The account matures once the child turns 18 years old and no further money can be deposited.
They can either withdraw the funds from the matured Child Trust Fund account or reinvest it into another savings account. Until the child withdraws or transfers the money, it stays in an account that no-one else has access to.
The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced with Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) – find out more about this here.