HMRC urges 671,000 people to come forward for 'unclaimed' £2,200

HMRC urges 671,000 people to come forward for 'unclaimed' £2,200
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671,000 young people have been urged to cash in their government savings pot by HMRC. Thousands of young people could have £2,200 sitting unclaimed in their Child Trust Fund account, HMRC - which is now operating under the Labour Party government - has said.

Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts which were set up, with the government depositing £250, for every child born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Young people can take control of their Child Trust Fund at 16 and withdraw funds when they turn 18 and the account matures.

The savings are not held by government but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers. The money stays in the account until it’s withdrawn or re-invested. Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said: "Thousands of Child Trust Fund accounts are sitting unclaimed – we want to reunite young people with their money and we’re making the process as simple as possible.

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"You don’t need to pay anyone to find your Child Trust Fund for you, locate yours today by searching ‘find your Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK." Gavin Oldham, The Share Foundation, said: "If you are 18-21 years old, the government would have put money aside for you shortly after birth. This investment would have grown quite a bit and it’s in your name.

"The Share Foundation has linked over 65,000 young people to their Child Trust Fund accounts. It’s easy and free to find out where your money is. Go to findCTF.sharefound.org or GOV.UK to locate it today." In the last year more than 450,000 customers, with just their National Insurance number and date of birth, used the free GOV.UK tool to locate their Child Trust Fund.

Contact your Child Trust Fund provider directly if you know who the account is with. If you do not know the provider, you can ask your parent or guardian. You can also ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to find a Child Trust Fund provider. They can tell you where the account was originally opened.