HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are now urging thousand of young people in the UK who have not yet claimed their matured Child Trust Funds savings to check if they are due a payment.
Child Trust Funds are long-term savings accounts set up for every child born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.
It is estimated that around 6.3 million Child Trust Fund accounts were set up throughout the duration of the scheme, containing about £9 billion. If a parent or guardian was not able to set up an account for their child, HMRC opened a savings account on the child’s behalf.
READ MORE: First images released of Martin Compston on set of new BBC drama Mayflies
In the beginning, the UK Government deposited around £250 in the funds in a bid to encourage people to start saving but now people could be due payments of more than £2,000 with everyone born between these dates being urged to check if they are eligible for getting money. This is because until the child withdraws or transfers the money, the money will remain in the Funds account.
When the young person turns 18, the saving account matures with tens of thousand predicted to have an average of £2,100 waiting for them. This means that if teenagers or their parents and guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. According to the Daily Record, this might be a bank, building society or other savings provider however you can visit the gov.uk website here and complete an online form to find out where their Child Trust Fund is held.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “Teenagers could have a pot of money waiting for them worth thousands of pounds and not even realise it. We want to help you access your savings and the money you’re entitled to.”
Although teenagers aged 16 or over can take control of their own Child Trust Fund, the money can only be withdrawn once they turn 18 years old.
Where children have a Child Trust Fund, families can still pay in up to £9,000 a year tax-free. The account matures once the child turns 18 years old and no further money can be deposited. They can either withdraw the funds from the matured Child Trust Fund account or reinvest it into another savings account.
The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced with Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) - find out more about this here.
READ NEXT:
Line of Duty star hints season 7 announcement could be 'weeks or months' away
Glasgow woman to feature on BBC Scotland documentary Being Jewish in Scotland
Morrisons, Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's and Lidl ban coming soon that will apply to every UK shopper
Glasgow cafes and restaurants named 'top 10%' in the world by Tripadvisor
