Savings stash worth thousands waiting for 758,000 young people
Young people aged 18-23 encouraged to find and claim their Child Trust Fund savings account.
- 758,000 matured Child Trust Fund accounts remain unclaimed.
- Average Child Trust Fund is worth more than £2,240.
- Young people encouraged to find their matured Child Trust Fund quickly and for free using the GOV.UK locator tool.
- Part of Government’s mission to grow the economy and deliver on our Plan for Change.
Latest figures reveal 758,000 18 to 23 year olds have yet to claim their matured Child Trust Fund as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) urges them to find their accounts, worth on average £2,242 each.
Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts which were set up for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 with an initial government deposit of at least £250.
Young people can take control of their account at 16, but once the account holder turns 18 it matures, and they can decide whether they want to withdraw the money or re-invest it.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said:
If you’re between 18 and 23, you could be sat on a savings payout and not even realise it. Just search ‘find my Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK to find your savings account today.
With September being the most common birth month, thousands of 18 year olds have become eligible to claim their Child Trust Fund savings pot.
If young people, or their parents or guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly.
For those who don’t know where theirs is, they can use the GOV.UK locator tool to find it quickly and for free.
More than 563,000 young people went online to find their Child Trust Fund in the 12 months to the end of August 2025. September 2024 was the busiest month when over 71,000 searches were submitted.
It takes about 5 minutes to submit a request to find a Child Trust Fund using the online tool and, for most, less than 3 weeks to hear back. You just need the young person’s National Insurance number and date of birth.
For those who don’t have their National Insurance number to hand, they can quickly and easily download it from the HMRC app and keep it in their digital wallet for whenever it’s needed.
Shelley Doorey-Williams, CEO of the London Foundation for Banking & Finance said:
As a committed member of the YFCG (Youth Financial Capability Group), the London Foundation for Banking & Finance welcomes HMRC’s call for young people to claim their Child Trust Fund savings. It’s encouraging to see the Government making efforts to reunite people with money they may not even realise was theirs. With an estimated average of £2,242 waiting in unclaimed accounts, this is real money at a crucial time, that can help young people right at the start of their financial lives.
The savings accounts are not held by government but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers. Find out more about Child Trust Funds at GOV.UK.
Further Information
Latest figures for Child Trust Funds included in the Annual Savings Statistics were released on 18 September 2025 and include figures up to April 2025.
The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced with Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA).
If a parent or guardian was not able to set up an account for their child, the government opened a savings account on the child’s behalf.