Child Trust Funds were launched back in 2002 as an incentive to get parents to save for their child’s future. The scheme saw the Government give children born between September 1st 2002 and January 2nd 2011 £250.00 each, with poorer children being given £500.00
However, research has found that almost 900,000 children and teenagers are at risk of losing it because, according to Share Centre, one-in-six accounts opened were never activated by parents.
“Child Trust Funds were the ‘big idea’ to get parents who’d never saved before, to invest for their children, so it’s pretty shocking that so many have lost contact with their accounts," Sarah Pennells, presenter of Young Money at Share Radio, told the Express:
“The good news is that if you have lost track of your child’s Trust Fund, the money hasn’t disappeared and can still be claimed.”
The scheme closed in 2011 and was replaced by the Junior ISAs Accounts, but, according to the Express, up to £4,080.00 a year can still be paid into an account already opened.
“This is a more serious problem than other types of ‘addressee gone away’ financial accounts, not only because the amounts are very meaningful for a young person starting adult life, but also because over £600m subscribed to these lost accounts originally came from the Exchequer,” Gavin Oldham, Share Radio’s managing director said.
“There is an online facility to ‘find’ a Child Trust Fund hosted by HMRC, but very little is done to publicise this, or get the message out. That’s why we are calling on Government to launch this campaign to help families find their lost Child Trust Funds.”
