HMRC urges Brits to check if they are missing out on £2,242 | Personal Finance | Finance
Young people are being urged to check whether they possess a forgotten or unclaimed Child Trust Fund. HMRC‘s latest figures show that 758,000 people aged between 18 and 23 have still not claimed their matured Child Trust Fund, with the typical account worth £2,242.
The precise sum may differ based on how much was deposited into the account. Child Trust Funds were set up by the Government for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. These accounts began with an initial payment of £250, or £500 for children from low-income households.
Families could then add up to £9,000 into the account each tax year. Young people can withdraw money from their Child Trust Fund once they reach 18, reports the Mirror.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC‘s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “If you’re between 18 and 23, you could be sat on a savings payout and not even realise it. Just search ‘find my Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK to find your savings account today.”
If young people, or their parents or guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly.
If you don’t know where your account is, you can use the GOV.UK locator tool to find it. You will need the National Insurance number and date of birth of the account holder.
The savings accounts are not held by government but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers. More than 563,000 young people searched for their Child Trust Fund online in the year up to August 2025, with September 2024 proving the most popular month as over 71,000 conducted searches.
Shelley Doorey-Williams, CEO of the London Foundation for Banking and Finance, backed HMRC‘s campaign, saying: “As a committed member of the YFCG (Youth Financial Capability Group), the London Foundation for Banking and Finance welcomes HMRC‘s call for young people to claim their Child Trust Fund savings.”
She continued: “It’s encouraging to see the Government making efforts to reunite people with money they may not even realise was theirs. With an estimated average of £2,242 waiting in unclaimed accounts, this is real money at a crucial time, that can help young people right at the start of their financial lives.”
The Mirror recently told the tale of Tayo Olutunde, an accounting and finance student who uncovered he possessed a Child Trust Fund valued at more than £2,000.
Tayo, a 22 year old from Leeds, revealed to The Mirror: “I found out about Child Trust Funds on TikTok… this was about two years ago. I was quite interested and I looked into it, but I thought, lets just leave it, as it sounded too good to be true.”
He went on: “Fast forward to now, and I spoke to my mum and she said, yeah, I do have an account.”
