MP says many Child Trust Funds are unclaimed
John Baron MP has today urged parents and guardians of children aged between 8 and 16 to check on their Child Trust Fund. Child Trust Funds were opened as individual accounts for almost all children born in the United Kingdom between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011.
These accounts were opened either by parents, or on behalf of the child by HM Revenue and Customs if a parent or guardian had not done so within one year of birth. Accounts were opened with a Government payment of £250 [or £500 if the family was in receipt of Child Tax Credit]. Further Government payments could also have been made in some cases once children were 7 years old.
Over six million accounts were issued, but around one million of these accounts are currently dormant as a result of being either unregistered, or marked as ‘addressee gone away’.
John said:
“Many young people may have had money paid into a Child Trust Fund by the Government and know nothing about it. These children are now nearing adulthood and it is important to ensure these funds are linked up with their rightful owners. I urge parents, guardians and young people to ensure their details are up to date and to check whether an account may have been set up for them.”
Notes to Editors
Parents and guardians can check who provides their Childs Trust Fund by using this link once they have set up or logged into their Government Gateway ID:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/child-trust-fund
They will then need to contact the account provider directly to bring their account up to date. Contact details for the main account providers can be found at:- https://www.sharefound.org/main-child-trust-fund-account-providers/
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