As reported by Wales Online, HMRC recently said: “Could you have a Child Trust Fund waiting to be claimed? If you were born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011, you’re likely to have a #ChildTrustFund worth an average of £2,200.”
The government initially contributed £250 to the account, or £500 for low-income families, and young people can assume control of their Child Trust Fund when they turn 16 and access the funds when they reach 18. Parents and guardians are now being urged to check whether they have a fund waiting for them.
The savings are not retained by government but are instead held with banks, building societies or alternative savings providers. The funds remain in the account until they are withdrawn or reinvested.
Martin Lewis previously said: “Now, you might be thinking, but my parents didn’t have any money to put in. It doesn’t matter, because the state started everybody off with at least 250 quid, and for some from lower income backgrounds £500.”
Anyone who was born between 2002 and 2011 could claim over £2,000. The HMRC has issued an alert advising people to check if they have unclaimed money sitting in an account waiting for them.
It’s believed that over 750,000 people could be missing out on the Child Trust Fund money, with the average account balance at £2,212. The long-term, tax-free savings account was set up with Government help for children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011. It was initially launched to ensure children reached adulthood with a financial head start. If parents didn’t open an account, HMRC automatically opened one for them.
He added: “Now, you might be thinking, but my parents didn’t have any money to put in. It doesn’t matter, because the state started everybody off with at least 250, and for some from lower-income backgrounds, £500.
“So every child trust fund between those dates had money in it. But of the 6.3 million trial trust funds that were active. It’s thought up to a million of them are lost, meaning people have lost track of them, or are unaware that you have them, and that could be you.
“This is really about checking to make sure you know you have a child trust fund. You know where the money is, and you can access it when it’s time. Thankfully, to do that, there is a tool on gov dot UK. Just search child trust fund on there to do it.”
A HMRC spokesperson, 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.”