The Child Trust Fund
The Child Trust Fund (CTF) is a long-term tax-free savings/investment account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. All children within this age range have a CTF set up under Government arrangements, which included an initial payment of £250 or £500 from the Government. It was a universal benefit.
If their parents/guardians had not opened an account within one year of birth, HM Revenue & Customs opened one for them. Many families may be unaware of this. So, while the accounts are safe and administered by a range of regulated account providers, we are told that up to 80% of accounts remain unclaimed.
To find out where your Child Trust Fund account is held you must visit the following website – https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/child-trust-fund
You need to be the parent or legal guardian, or the child or young person whom the account belongs to (you will need to be 16 or over to use the service). In addition, you will need a Government Gateway ID. It takes a few moments to create one, but you may already have one if you have ever used UK government online services (for example, the DVLA website or Tax Self Assessment).
To create a new Government Gateway ID you will need the following information:
• Your National Insurance number
• Further details that demonstrate your identity: these can come from a UK Passport, a recent payslip or a P60 form.
Once signed in, you will be asked if you are the parent or guardian, or the child or young person. If the parent or guardian, you will be asked for the name and date of birth of the Child Trust Fund account holder. After submitting your request, you will normally receive a response within 15 days.