Martin Lewis said up to a million people could have £2,000 hidden in one of their savings accounts. He told parents of children aged between 12 and 20 about a UK Government savings account which they may “know nothing about”.
The founder of MoneySavingExpert.com posted a video to his 2.1 million Twitter followers about the Child Trust Fund, a tax-free savings account set up by the UK Government for every child born between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011. To encourage a future generation of savers, the UK Government provided an initial deposit of at least £250 to start every account.
The savings accounts mature when the child turns 18-years-old. Those eligible, who are aged 18 or over and have yet to access their account, could have savings worth an average of £2,100, according to the latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
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The money expert explained that people from lower income backgrounds were given a £500 deposit to start the Child Trust Fund off. It means all Trust Funds started between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011, had money put in it, the Daily Record reports.
Martin said: “Of the 6.3 million Child Trust Funds that were active, it’s thought up to one million of them are lost. Meaning people have lost track of them or are unaware you have them - and that could be you.”
He added: "GOV UK estimates that the average Child Trust Fund has £2,100 in, now I think if it was inactive and nobody had put money in you’ve probably got less in than that, but it’s still likely to be £300, £400, £500, £1,000 or possibly more.” Martin also explained how to check if you have a Child Trust Fund, where it is and how to access it.
Where to find your Child Trust Fund
If teenagers or their parents and guardians know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. This might be a bank, building society or other savings provider. For those who do not know who their provider is, they can visit GOV.UK here and complete an online form to find out where the account is held.
You can ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund if you’re a parent or guardian of a child under 18 or 16 and over and you are looking for your own Trust Fund You can either use the online form or request the details by post.
To use the online form you’ll need your National Insurance number and a Government Gateway user ID and password - you can create one of these when you first sign in. Alternatively, you can also do it by post.
What else you should know
Teenagers aged 16 or over can take control of their own Child Trust Fund, but the funds can only be withdrawn once they turn 18.
Families can pay in up to £9,000 a year tax-free. Once the child turns 18 years, no further money can be deposited. They can either withdraw the funds from the matured account or put it into another savings account.
The money stays in the account until the child withdraws or transfers money and nobody else has access to it. The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced with Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA).
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