£1.6 Billion in Child Trust Fund Unclaimed Savings: How to Find Yours
Quick answer
More than 750,000 young people have unclaimed Child Trust Fund accounts worth £2,200 on average. A new government taskforce launched on 29 June 2026 is pushing to reunite them with their money. Here is everything you need to know.
Why this matters - and why right now
On 29 June 2026, the government announced that more than £1.6 billion in Child Trust Fund unclaimed savings is sitting dormant, spread across 750,000-plus matured accounts that belong to young people aged roughly 15 to 23. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Blake MP, convened the first meeting of a brand-new Child Trust Fund Taskforce on that date, bringing together major providers - Nationwide, HSBC UK, Sheffield Mutual, OneFamily, Coutts, The Share Centre and others - to fix what has become an embarrassingly large pile of forgotten money.
If you were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, there is a reasonable chance you have one of these accounts. The average unclaimed pot holds around £2,200. That is not a trivial sum for someone just starting adult life - it could cover a laptop and course books, a driving licence, a rental deposit, or the seed of a first investment. The search takes minutes and costs nothing. There is no good reason not to check.
Background: what Child Trust Funds actually were
The Child Trust Fund (CTF) scheme was introduced in 2005 as a government initiative to give every child in the UK a financial asset they could access at adulthood. It applied to eligible children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. The government made an initial payment into each account at birth, and parents and guardians could add to it over the years. Accounts were held with banks, building societies, friendly societies or investment managers, depending on who the family chose.
Around 6.3 million CTF accounts were opened in total - some by parents, many by HMRC directly where families did not act. The scheme closed to new entrants in 2011, when it was replaced by the Junior ISA, but all existing accounts continued to grow. Accounts began maturing on 1 September 2020, when the first cohort born on 1 September 2002 turned 18. Since then, tens of thousands of accounts have matured every month.
More than 750,000 of those matured accounts have still not been claimed. The reasons vary: some young adults simply do not know the account exists (particularly where HMRC opened it on their behalf); some know they have one but are not sure where it is held; others have left it invested while they decide what to do with the money. Whatever the reason, this is their money - and the government wants to give it back.
The new Child Trust Fund Taskforce: what it does
The Taskforce, convened by Rachel Blake MP, is a formal collaboration between HM Treasury, HMRC, and a group of the largest CTF providers. Its stated aims are threefold: improve coordination on tracing approaches so that unclaimed accounts can be matched to their owners more efficiently; test more effective engagement with young people, who may respond differently to communications than older savers; and drive practical actions that lead directly to more accounts being claimed and funds accessed.
This is not the first attempt to tackle the problem. HMRC has been running communications campaigns for several years, and HMRC's Chief Executive JP Marks confirmed that direct letters are already going out to eligible 21-year-olds. But with 750,000 accounts still sitting unclaimed as of June 2026, the government has concluded that a more joined-up industry-wide effort is needed. The Taskforce's first meeting took place on 29 June 2026.
Jim Islam, Chief Executive of OneFamily, noted that making the process as easy as possible is essential. Philip Kurtenbach of HSBC UK said the bank is committed to ensuring funds reach those they were intended for. Richard Stocker of Nationwide described the taskforce as an important step in building on progress made so far.
What the £1.6 billion figure actually means
The headline number - £1.6 billion - is striking, but the per-account average of £2,200 is arguably the more useful figure. It tells you what a typical unclaimed pot is worth right now. That average reflects both the original government contribution and whatever investment growth has occurred over the years the account has been open.
The value of any individual account will depend on:
- How much was paid in originally by the government (this varied depending on the year of birth and household income at the time).
- Whether parents or other family members added money over the years.
- Which provider holds the account and how the funds were invested - a cash-based CTF will have grown more slowly than one invested in stocks and shares.
- How long the account has been open and how markets have performed.
There is no fixed formula here - you will not know your actual balance until you locate and access the account. But the average of £2,200 is a useful benchmark: most unclaimed accounts are worth something meaningful, not a few pence.
Who is affected
If you were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, you should have a CTF. That means anyone currently aged between roughly 15 and 23 (as of mid-2026) falls within the eligible cohort.
- Aged 18 or over: You can access your funds immediately. The account is legally yours and you can withdraw, transfer to a cash ISA or stocks and shares ISA, or leave it where it is. You do not need your parents' involvement.
- Aged 16 or 17: You can take over management of the account from your parents or guardians - changing investments or providers - but you cannot withdraw until you turn 18.
- Aged 15: The youngest eligible cohort (born 2 January 2011). Your account is still managed by your parent or guardian, but it is maturing soon.
Young people who were in care, or whose accounts were set up by HMRC rather than a parent, may be especially likely to have unclaimed funds - particularly if there was no adult in their life who knew about the account or communicated its existence. The Share Foundation, a charity and Taskforce member, specifically works with this group.
Worked examples: what £2,200 could mean in practice
Example 1 - The university student
Priya is 20 and at university. She has a part-time job but no savings to speak of. She had no idea her parents set up a CTF when she was born. After reading about the Taskforce announcement, she searches on GOV.UK using her National Insurance number and finds her account with a friendly society. The balance is £2,340 - slightly above average. She decides to transfer it to a cash ISA to keep it tax-free while she finishes her degree. That £2,340 sits outside of her income tax calculation entirely, and any interest it earns within the ISA is also tax-free. She plans to use it towards a rental deposit when she graduates.
Example 2 - The young worker who forgot
Callum is 22 and has been working full-time since he was 18. He vaguely remembered being told he had a CTF as a child but assumed it was not worth much. After the government letter arrived on his 21st birthday - one of the direct mailings HMRC sends - he finally searched and found the account. His balance: £1,980. He withdrew it immediately. Because the CTF itself is a tax-free wrapper, the money he withdraws is not taxable income. He used it to pay off a credit card balance, saving himself ongoing interest charges.
Example 3 - The account opened by HMRC
Demi was in foster care as a child. She is 19 and had no idea there was money waiting for her. A support worker told her about the GOV.UK search tool. She searched, found an account opened by HMRC (as happened when parents did not act), and discovered a balance of just over £1,100 - lower than average, reflecting the basic government contribution without any top-ups. She transferred the funds to a stocks and shares ISA and is leaving them invested for the long term.
None of these withdrawals trigger an income tax liability. The CTF wrapper means the money is not taxable on the way out, regardless of which income tax band you fall into - whether that is Scotland's rates or the rest-of-UK rates.
How to find and claim your Child Trust Fund - step by step
The process is free, takes a few minutes, and requires only your National Insurance number (which you receive automatically around your 16th birthday). Here is exactly what to do:
- Go to GOV.UK and search for
