Young adults, and their parents, are being urged to track down lost Child Trust Funds (CTFs), which have an estimated £1.4bn sitting unclaimed in dormant accounts.
CTFs were opened for all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Parents received a £250 voucher and could open a cash or investment CTF, with low income families receiving £500. Accounts were opened automatically for children if parents failed to take action, and the government made a further payment on the child’s 7th birthday.
Parents, grandparents and family friends can contribute to these accounts, currently up to £9,000 a year, meaning many CTFs have sizeable balances on maturity.
A CTF reverts to the child at 16, and they can access this money at 18 or transfer it to an adult ISA.
Government data shows 670,000 of these maturing CTFs are untouched — with the average balance standing at £2,212. An online tool on gov.uk is designed to identify lost accounts. If you don’t know the CTF provider, account holders will need other key details, including home address (at birth) and national insurance number. Individuals can then get in touch with the provider to find out the balance of the account and how to access the fund or transfer it into another savings vehicle.
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