Banks including Nationwide and HSBC are working to trace people with money waiting
People are sitting on unclaimed savings worth more than £1.6billion as a taskforce is set up to find those due £2,200 on average. Hundreds of thousands of people could soon be reunited with unclaimed savings worth more than £1.6 billion, as the government launches a new push to trace matured Child Trust Funds (CTFs).
Around 6.3million Child Trust Fund accounts were opened for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, predominantly by parents and guardians, with the remainder established by HMRC. Accounts can go unclaimed for a number of reasons including the difficulty locating them, people forgetting they have them, or a decision to leave the funds invested for the time being.
Child Trust Funds were introduced to give every child a financial asset at adulthood, and this government is doing everything it can to make sure young adults are aware of and can access their accounts. Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Blake MP, has convened a new Child Trust Fund Taskforce, bringing together CTF providers and the Government to drive a coordinated effort to increase reunification of accounts.
Members of the taskforce will include One Family, Coutts, Nationwide, HSBC UK, Pilling, The Coventry (Co-operative), Sheffield Mutual, Unity Mutual, Forester, Healthy Investments and The Share Foundation – with the first meeting happening yesterday.
More than 750,000 young adults still have unclaimed matured accounts, holding £2,200 on average. The funds were originally set up by the government for those born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. The taskforce will improve coordination across government and industry to encourage more young people to access their unclaimed matured CTFs.
Rebecca Robertson, Independent Financial Adviser, Planner and Director at Evolution Financial Planning, said the young people need the cash. She added: “This is great news for young people, who are struggling to find full-time or part-time work and financially reliant on their parents, at a time when family finances are already tight.
“The children in question would be between 15 and 24 now. This could make a big difference to them, paying for driving lessons or helping them buy some smart clothes for interviews. Not all families are financially able to support young adults and many are being left behind.”
Scott Gallacher, Director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton, said: “While it’s welcome that the Government is trying to reunite young people with their Child Trust Funds, it’s slightly depressing that we need a taskforce to do it. These accounts were created by the Government, which already holds people’s names, dates of birth and National Insurance numbers.
“In 2026, surely there should be a simpler way of contacting eligible young adults than launching another initiative. That said, it’s obviously good for the affected young people. However, a one off windfall of around £2,200 isn’t going to reverse years of generational financial challenges, from soaring house prices to the rising cost of living.”
Antonia Medlicott, Founder & MD at London-based Investing Insiders, said this should have happened sooner.
She added: “It’s great that a taskforce has been set up to help reunite young people with unclaimed savings from the Child Trust Fund scheme, as this will benefit them massively as they approach key parts of their lives, making a real difference to a generation that needs that helping hand in adulthood.
“However, this should have been done sooner, as far too many trust funds are going unclaimed. Some accounts will hold significantly more than the £2,200 average figure that has been circulated, and it’s a shame to see that they have been left until now. I, along with others, have long pushed for young people to be reunited with these missing accounts, and there are plenty of free tools available out there, like Gretel, which help trace them.
“Accounts were easily lost, whether it was from parents forgetting they opened one, a house move, or other circumstances, and many young people won’t even know they have this money.”
