Thousands of UK households missing 'unclaimed' £2,212 payment from bank account

UK households missing 'unclaimed' £2,212 payment from bank account
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Thousands of people missing out on £2,212 in unclaimed cash. The money can be found in forgotten HMRC Child Trust Funds, which were saving accounts offered to children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.

£1.4bn is sitting in Child Trust Funds that have matured but haven’t been accessed. “Many parents and children aren’t aware they even have the account, or don’t know who the money is with or how to track it down,” said Charlene Young, pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell.

If you were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 and your parents received Child Benefit, chances are you have a Child Trust Fund Account (CTF) waiting for you. CTFs were launched in 2005 to encourage parents to save for their kids’ future.

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“More than a quarter of CTF accounts were set up by the government because parents failed to do so within the 12-month window,” Ms Young said. “This highlights why so many are unclaimed- as the parents either weren’t aware or won’t remember that an account was even set up for their child, let alone where the money is now.”

Last year, the government estimated that’s a whopping 42% of 18–20-year-olds haven’t claimed theirs. The Government deposited £250 for every child during that time period, or £500 if they came from a low income family earning around £16,000 a year or below.

An extra £250 or £500, depending on their families' economic status, was deposited when the child turned seven. In 2010, this was reduced to £50 for better off households and £100 for those on a lower income.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s second permanent secretary and deputy chief executive, said the government wants to "reunite young people with their money and we’re making the process as simple as possible." She added: "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.”