Two years ago, Tayo Olutunde stumbled upon a video on TikTok discussing Child Trust Funds, but he was initially skeptical about its legitimacy. However, after conducting some research, the accounting and finance student discovered a previously unknown Child Trust Fund, which now has made him over £2,000 richer.
Child Trust Funds are savings accounts that were provided to children born between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011. Each child received a voucher worth £250, or £500 for those from lower-income families. In cases where parents did not open the account, HMRC would have done it on behalf of the child, leading to many individuals being unaware of the existence of such accounts.
Currently, around 670,000 unclaimed Child Trust Funds are held by young adults, with an average account balance estimated at £2,200. Despite potential challenges in locating a Child Trust Fund, particularly if there have been address changes, the effort is worthwhile, as Tayo experienced.
Upon finding his account after moving several times, Tayo accessed it and discovered slightly over £2,000. He used part of the funds for a holiday and invested the remaining amount wisely. He emphasized the importance of seizing the opportunity to claim such funds and suggested exploring investment options for unneeded money.
Access to a Child Trust Fund is granted upon turning 18, and while new accounts cannot be opened, contributions can continue to be made to existing ones.
To retrieve information about a specific Child Trust Fund, individuals can directly contact the provider or seek assistance from HMRC by submitting a form on the GOV.UK website if the account details are lost. Necessary details, including National Insurance number and Government Gateway ID, are required for the online form, which can also be requested by post.
An advocacy group is urging the Government to establish a system that automatically reunites unclaimed funds in Child Trust Funds with their rightful owners. The Share Foundation has aided over 95,000 young individuals in locating their Child Trust Funds, totaling nearly £200 million.
Gavin Oldham, OBE, from The Share Foundation, highlighted the significance of empowering young people from low-income backgrounds through such initiatives to facilitate a smoother transition to adulthood and break the cycle of poverty.