Unclaimed trust funds for children

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging young people to check if a trust fund was set up in their name as hundreds of thousands of accounts remain unclaimed.

Known as Child Trust Funds (CTF), they were set up by parents and guardians with Child Trust Fund providers – usually banks, building societies or investment managers – using vouchers provided by the government.

CTFs were set up for all children born between September 1 2002 and January 2 2011 with a live Child Benefit claim and HMRC set one up on the child’s behalf if parents did not.

With around 55,000 of these CTFs maturing every month as account holders turn 18, many owners can now withdraw the funds or transfer the savings into an adult ISA.

Some young people may not know they have a CTF as some parents or guardians may have forgotten who they set the account up with.

To access the funds, owners should contact the providers directly and in instances where people have forgotten who the providers are, these details can be obtained from HMRC by visiting https:// www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds