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Child Trust Fund: How to find your child's share of £2bn government money

Child Trust Fund
The government has paid more than £2bn into child trust funds for 6.3 million children. Photo: Getty (Adie Bush via Getty Images)

Turning 18 and leaving school comes with the big decision of what to do next.

Some teenagers might opt to take a gap year and go travelling or take the plunge and go straight to university or perhaps strike out on their own with a business venture or new job.

And having a lump of cash to support their decision will be a welcome relief.

A child trust fund is a savings account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, which they can access at the age of 18.

The government paid more than £2bn into CTFs for 6.3 million children born during the qualifying period. Most children received around £250 each from the government at the time their CTF was started, while those from low-income families or in local authority care received an additional £250.

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Read more: Millions of pounds left unclaimed in child trust funds

The funds were set up by the former Labour government in 2002 to provide all children with a nest egg with which to embark on adult life, without parental control.

By April 2021, around 320,000 CTFs had matured in the seven months since the first CTF account holders turned 18 in September 2020.

Watch: Is it worth the money going on a reality TV show or going to university?

Of these, 175,000 (55%) have been claimed by the account holders and the accounts closed, and 145,000 remain unclaimed.

Some £394m was, by April 2021, yet to be claimed in matured CTFs belonging to young adults who had reached the age of 18.

"It is a big challenge and a big problem. As people grow up they move and become less accessible. There is a huge amount of work to do on this," said Gavin Oldham OBE, chairman and founder of The Share Foundation.

What is a Child Trust Fund?

All parents and guardians of children born between 1 September 2002 and 1 January 2011 inclusive received a voucher from the government.

Children born between 1 September 2002 to 31 July 2010 received at least £250 at birth. This rose to £500 for low income households.

All of these children also received an additional £250 on their 17th birthday. Lower income families could claim up to £500.

Read more: Budget: Five key points on Jeremy Hunt's list that impact your finances

Children born later, between 1 August 2010 and 1 January 2011, received £50 at birth, or between £100 and £500 if they were of limited financial income. No additional payments were given at age seven. All payments stopped from 2 January 2011.

Parents could invest the money in a range of funds but if they did not redeem the voucher within a year it was automatically placed in a revenue allocated account by the government.

Children can take control of the funds at age 16 and withdraw the money at 18.

Watch: How to live off a student loan

How do I find a fund?

All funds can be tracked down whether they were set up by parents/guardians or the government.

"If you’ve lost track of your child’s CTF start by checking if you have any paperwork. If you didn’t get round to making a decision, the government would have chosen a stakeholder CTF for you. If you don’t know where that is, you can track down your CTF through the government website – as long as you have parental responsibility for the child," said Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

There are two main ways to find your child's account. The first is via HMRC by signing into the Government Gateway, or signing up for an account.

You will need the child's unique reference number, which can be found on an annual Child Trust Fund statement, or their national insurance number.

Read more: UK mortgages: Millions to face loan repayments beyond retirement age

Once the online form is complete HMRC will inform you of the provider holding your child’s fund. You should receive a response within 15 days, but bear in mind this may be a letter asking for further information such as a birth or adoption certificate.

An alternative option is to use the ShareFound simplified search process which does not require you to set up a Government Gateway account.

And if you know the child trust fund provider but have lost access details you can find them on the government website.

How much will be in the fund?

The initial fund amount varied between £50 and £500 depending on the child's date of birth and the household income.

Some children also received an additional £250 to £500 on their seventh birthday. All payments stopped from 2 January 2011 when the scheme was axed.

At least £9.3bn is sitting in CTFs, of which around a quarter, over £2bn, is still unclaimed. The current value of each of these accounts, if no additional funds have been added, is between £996 and £1,992.

Parents were encouraged to put regular savings into these accounts, from as little as £10 a month up to £4,368 a year.

The amount in a fund will depend on what the government put in, whether parents added to it and the returns the fund received.

Watch: Should I move in with my parents to save money?

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