Overview
- HMRC is launching a targeted letter campaign to alert 21-year-olds with unclaimed Child Trust Funds and direct them to the free “Find My Child Trust Fund” service on GOV.UK.
- Government data shows about 750,000 accounts remain unclaimed with an average balance near £2,200, leaving around £1.5 billion untouched.
- Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby convened a Treasury roundtable with major providers, including Nationwide, HSBC and Sheffield Mutual, to coordinate faster reconnections.
- Child Trust Funds were set up for children born between September 2002 and January 2011 with at least £250 from the government, grow tax-free, and can be withdrawn from age 18 through the banks and building societies that hold them.
- Officials urge people to use the free GOV.UK or Share Foundation tools and to avoid paid tracing agents, while campaigners press for automatic release of funds at age 21 to speed payouts.