Were you born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011? Did you know you may be entitled to a share of £1.5bn?
Most children born in the UK between these dates will have a Child Trust Fund (CTF), but over 780,000 young people are unaware that one day they will be able to claim an average of £2,000.
Between 2002 and 2011, parents and carers were invited to set up CTFs with a bank or building society and were able to make further deposits into the account following an initial sum paid in by HMRC.
However, if this had not been completed by a child’s first birthday a CTF was automatically set up by HMRC and often families were not aware that this had been done. About 500,000 so-called default CTFs were set up and about half of these were for children from lower income households.
HMRC initially paid in £250 to every CTF, or £500 for babies from lower income families, with further payments of £250/£500 made when the child reached its seventh birthday.
Young people can take control of the fund on their sixteenth birthday and can access the funds when they are 18 – with the option of taking the funds out or transferring them to an adult ISA.
The first young people to have had a CTF set up started turning 18 from 1 September 2020 with youngsters born in 2007 reaching that milestone this year. Money remains in the CTF until it is claimed by the young person. It is estimated that over 670,000 young people who are now entitled to access their funds have not done so.
Young people who wish to track down their CTF are also warned not to use claim management firms who take a percentage of the fund when it is located.
Instead, anyone who wants to locate a CTF can easily find out where they are held via gov.uk – The only information required in the young person’s National Insurance number and date of birth. Responses are usually supplied by HMRC within three weeks.
CTFs for children in care are managed by The Share Foundation. The Share Foundation can also support any young person to locate a CTF.
Cllr Liz Parsons, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said: “There are potentially hundreds possibly thousands of young people in Liverpool who are, or soon will be, entitled to access their Child Trust Fund.
“Even if your family has not paid in any further funds, the interest paid on HMRC’s deposits will mean that there is still likely to be a useful sum of money that is waiting to be claimed.
“If you’re not sure which provider holds your fund – please, please go to gov.uk and request that they check. It’s quick and easy and all you need are your National Insurance number and your date of birth.
“This is YOUR money and we want Liverpool’s young people to take advantage of it so please take those few minutes to request a check and also let your friends know that that might have a lost nest egg too!”
