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<\/p>\nHM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging hundreds of thousands of young adults to check whether they have unclaimed savings held in Child Trust Fund accounts.<\/p>\n
The department said more than 758,000 people aged between 18 and 23 have not yet claimed their matured accounts.<\/p>\n
HMRC said the average value of an unclaimed Child Trust Fund account is around \u00a32,242.<\/p>\n
The accounts belong to young people born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.<\/p>\n
HMRC said many account holders may be unaware the money exists or may have lost track of where it is held.<\/p>\n
Child Trust Funds were long-term, tax-free savings accounts introduced by the Government for children born during the qualifying period.<\/p>\n
Each eligible child received an initial Government payment of at least \u00a3250 when the account was opened.<\/p>\n
Some children received a higher initial payment depending on household circumstances at the time.<\/p>\n
HMRC have closed the scheme to new accounts <\/p>\n
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The accounts were designed to give young people a financial asset when they reached adulthood.<\/p>\n
Although the scheme closed to new accounts in 2011, existing funds have continued to grow.<\/p>\n
Parents, family members and guardians were able to contribute additional savings to the accounts.<\/p>\n
Up to \u00a39,000 a year could be added, with all interest and investment growth remaining tax-free.<\/p>\n
The money in a Child Trust Fund legally belongs to the child named on the account.<\/p>\n
Account holders are not able to withdraw the money until they reach the age of 18.<\/p>\n
From the age of 16, young people are allowed to take control of how their account is managed.<\/p>\n
Once the account holder turns 18, the Child Trust Fund officially matures, at which point no further contributions can be made to the account.<\/p>\n
Young adults then have the option to withdraw the money or transfer it into an adult ISA.<\/p>\n
If the money is moved into an ISA, the Child Trust Fund account is closed.<\/p>\n
Until action is taken, the funds remain locked in the account and cannot be accessed by anyone else.<\/p>\n
HMRC said the accounts are held by banks, building societies and other approved savings providers.<\/p>\n
The money is not held directly by the Government.<\/p>\n
HMRC is encouraging eligible young adults to search online to locate their account.<\/p>\n
The department said people should search \u201cfind my Child Trust Fund\u201d on GOV.UK.<\/p>\n
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The accounts belong to young people born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011<\/p>\n
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The online service allows users to request details of where their account was originally opened.<\/p>\n
To use the service, individuals need their National Insurance number and date of birth.<\/p>\n
HMRC said submitting a request typically takes around five minutes, with most people receiving a response within three weeks.<\/p>\n
Angela MacDonald, second permanent secretary and deputy chief executive at HMRC, said many young adults could be missing out.<\/p>\n
Ms MacDonald said: “If you are between 18 and 23, you could be sat on a savings payout and not even realise it.”<\/p>\n
She added: “Just search ‘find my Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK to find your savings account today.”<\/p>\n
HMRC said young people can also ask their parents or guardians if they are unsure where their account is held.<\/p>\n
![\"Worried](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/worried-young-person.jpg\")
Experts say the extra money could go a long way as young people face financial challenges <\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
The department said some families may still have paperwork or records from when the account was opened.<\/p>\n
Shelley Doorey-Williams, chief executive at the London Foundation for Banking & Finance, said the unclaimed funds could make a difference.<\/p>\n
“With an estimated average of \u00a32,242 waiting in unclaimed accounts, this is real money at a crucial time for young people.”<\/p>\n
She said the funds could help support people at the start of their financial lives.<\/p>\n
HMRC said it wants as many eligible account holders as possible to claim what they are entitled to.<\/p>\n
The department said checking takes little time and could unlock savings built up over many years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging hundreds of thousands of young adults to check whether they have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,2218,2222,50,3668,2331,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-367095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-hmrc","11":"tag-money","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-savings","14":"tag-sgg","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}