Child Trust Fund: 827,000 people have not claimed their money — £2,310 on average

HM Revenue and Customs published fresh Child Trust Fund figures on 23 September 2026. Nearly 3 million of these accounts have been claimed or moved into an ISA since September 2020 — but around 827,000 matured accounts are still sitting untouched, worth on average £2,310. Their owners have already turned 18 and simply have not asked for the money.

The money is not lost and does not go back to the government. It sits with a bank or building society in one named person's account, and nobody else can touch it. The problem is that many young adults do not know the account exists — it was opened by their parents or, if the parents did not, by the government on their behalf.

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Who got a Child Trust Fund

An account was set up for every child born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 for whom Child Benefit was claimed. The government paid in a starting deposit of at least £250. If parents did not open an account themselves, the government opened one for the child with an allocated provider.

The scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced by the Junior ISA. No new Child Trust Funds are opened, but existing ones keep running.

Account holders are now aged 15 to 24: those born in September 2002 have already turned 24, while the youngest — born on 2 January 2011 — will not reach 18 until January 2029.

How much is actually in there

From HMRC's annual savings statistics published on 16 September 2026 (figures to April 2026):

— around 2.9 million Child Trust Fund accounts remain open;
— roughly 827,000 of those have matured — the holder is 18 or over but has not claimed;
— a further 415,000 matured during the 2025/26 tax year and moved automatically into an ISA;
— the average balance on an open account is £2,642, up from £2,242 a year earlier; stakeholder accounts average £2,521 and non-stakeholder accounts £2,855;
— about 3.78 million accounts have matured over the life of the scheme, of which 2.96 million had been claimed or transferred by April 2026.

HMRC's press release puts the average value of the unclaimed accounts at £2,310. That is an average, not a promise: some hold a couple of hundred pounds, others several thousand where parents topped them up for years.

How to find yours: five minutes, then three weeks

If you know which bank or building society holds the account, go straight to that provider — it is the fastest route. If you do not know, there is a free locator tool on GOV.UK.

Who can use it: anyone aged 16 or over looking for their own fund, and a parent or guardian of a child under 18.

What you need: your National Insurance number and date of birth. A parent or guardian needs the child's full name, address and date of birth, plus any previous names either of you have used; the child's NI number is optional. Adoption details are needed where they apply. You cannot save the form and come back to it — complete it in one go.

Timings. Submitting takes about 5 minutes. Apply online and HMRC usually writes back within 3 weeks; postal applications take longer. If you hear nothing within 6 weeks, write to Charities, Savings and International 1, HMRC, BX9 1AU, quoting your reference number.

One limitation: HMRC will only tell you which provider the account was opened with. It will not tell you how much is in it — you get that from the bank.

The HMRC tool does not find Junior ISAs, only Child Trust Funds. There is another free tracing service, the Share Foundation. A Child Trust Fund Taskforce, led by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby, has been set up to bring the number of unclaimed accounts down.

No National Insurance number to hand? You can download it in the HMRC app and keep it in your phone's digital wallet.

What happens at 16 and at 18

At 16 the young person can take control of the account by contacting the provider, replacing the parent as the person who runs it — or leave the parent in charge. Money still cannot be withdrawn at 16.

At 18 the account matures: the holder automatically takes it over and no more money can be paid in. From there, two options — withdraw the money, or transfer it into an adult ISA. The Child Trust Fund then closes.

Until the holder does one of those things, the money stays in an account nobody else can access. That is exactly how 827,000 untouched accounts built up — the oldest matured more than six years ago.

If the holder lacks the mental capacity to manage the account when it matures, a relative or close friend needs a financial deputyship order: from the Court of Protection in England and Wales, the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland, or the Office of Care and Protection in Northern Ireland.

If the holder is still under 18

Until the account matures, up to £9,000 a year can be paid in. Income and growth are tax free, and holding the account does not affect entitlement to benefits.

You cannot hold a Child Trust Fund and a Junior ISA at the same time, but the old account can be transferred into a Junior ISA — contact a Junior ISA provider to arrange it. It is worth looking at: many older stakeholder accounts carry higher charges and a narrower choice of funds and rates than a modern Junior ISA. The average stakeholder balance (£2,521) is noticeably lower than the rest (£2,855).

Only the registered contact — usually a parent — can run the account before the child turns 18, including changing the account type, the address and the provider. Keep the child's Unique Reference Number (it is on the annual statement), the statements themselves and the provider details.

What Russian-speaking families should check

The account belongs to the child, not to the parents' current status. If the family was living in the UK between 2002 and 2011 and claimed Child Benefit, an account was opened — regardless of where the family lives now or what passports it holds. The money stays with a UK bank in the grown child's name.

A common situation: the parents moved house years ago, statements stopped arriving, and the child's or mother's surname has since changed. That is why the form asks separately for every previous name — list them all, or the search may not match.

And to be clear: tracing an account through HMRC or the Share Foundation is free. Firms offering to "find your child trust fund" for a cut of the money do nothing you cannot do yourself in five minutes.

Child Trust Fund money is not a benefit and not public funds — it is personal savings in one person's name. If you are working through savings and accounts in the UK, see our guides to the Help to Save scheme and to credit history, cards and transfers.