Child Trust Fund: How to find out if you have money waiting to claim

Were you or a loved one born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011?

Girl putting a coin into a yellow piggy bank sitting at table at home.

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Published: September 6, 2026 at 12:02 PM

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Six million Child Trust Fund accounts were opened – but millions of pounds are still waiting to be taken out…

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September is the top month for births. So it’s the ideal time to remind 750,000 young people that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of tax-free pounds waiting for them that they have not yet claimed.

All babies born from 1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011 had a state-backed Child Trust Fund opened for them. It was a Gordon Brown initiative to make sure every new adult had a small nest egg.

More than six million accounts were opened. The Treasury put in at least £250 each and parents, relatives and friends were able to add to it.

The average in each fund is £2,200 – a total of £1.6 billion waiting to be taken out. But 750,000 new adults have still not claimed their money. Some could celebrate their 24th birthday this month!

There is no tax to pay on the money and it will not affect a Universal Credit claim unless their total capital exceeds £6,000.

Some young people and their parents or guardians simply do not know about the fund, and some never opened an account – but in those cases the Treasury did it for them anyway.

In June the Government launched a task force to get the money to its rightful owners. But its main idea seems to be “improving coordination” and “encouraging young people” to access it, arranging half a dozen Child Trust Fund providers to help with the task.

It may not work, though – so if you know someone aged 18 or more, who was born 1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011, ask if they have accessed their Child Trust Fund.

If they haven’t, finding it is easy. They only need their date of birth and National Insurance number, and the legwork is done for them – free – at sharefound.org (click on “Find Your Account”).

Beware other firms that offer to do this for a hefty fee: no one should ever pay someone else to find a Child Trust Fund.

At 16, the young person can control how the money is invested – until then, only parents can – and on their 18th birthday the money becomes theirs.

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When the funds were started, some worried that the new adults might just splurge the lot. Anecdotal evidence suggests that, actually, many move it into a cash or investment Isa, perhaps hoping to continue saving for a deposit on their first home.

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