Young people urged to check if they’re owed £1000s in Child Trust Fund payouts

If you were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, you might just have a tidy sum of unclaimed money with your name on it.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is waving a big reminder flag at young people across the UK because latest official data shows that a staggering 758,000 young adults aged 18–23 have unclaimed funds averaging around £2,242 each, sitting in forgotten Child Trust Fund accounts.

Child Trust Funds were an initiative set up by the government in the early 2000s. The idea was that all children, when they reached the age of 18, should have access to a pot of money to help them get started in their adult life.

For those lucky children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, the state put in at least £250 (sometimes more for families on lower incomes), with the aim that over the years that money could grow with interest or investment gains. Once you turned 18, the account matured and became yours to claim — but many people simply forgot about it or never knew it existed.

So who can claim one?

If you were born in that 2002–2011 window, or you know someone who was, there’s a chance a CTF was opened in their name. Parents, guardians or former carers might know where it’s held, but if not, HMRC’s free online tools – and our free finder service – make it easy to track it down.

Here’s how to go about claiming it:

Either:
Head to the official GOV.UK Child Trust Fund finder and enter your National Insurance number and date of birth.

Or head to our free finder service here (it also tracks down lost pensions) and do the same — it takes just a few minutes.

The results of the search will tell you which provider holds your CTF (usually a bank, building society or investment firm). You can then contact that provider to access the funds — you can withdraw the cash or transfer it into an adult ISA if you prefer to save or invest it.

You don’t need to pay anyone to find your money — HMRC’s service is free, and using third-party firms that charge a fee isn’t necessary.

As Antonia says: “It’s worth taking a few minutes to check — that money is yours, and it could give you a nice financial boost as you start out in adult life.”