{"id":2081,"date":"2026-09-25T07:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/?p=2081"},"modified":"2026-09-25T07:22:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:22:53","slug":"hmrc-issues-2310-alert-as-827000-people-still-havent-claimed-forgotten-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/?p=2081","title":{"rendered":"HMRC issues \u00a32,310 alert as 827,000 people still haven\u2019t claimed forgotten savings"},"content":{"rendered":"

HM Revenue and Customs has issued a fresh alert after revealing that around 827,000 young adults still have matured Child Trust Funds waiting to be claimed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The average value of those accounts is now \u00a32,310<\/strong>, meaning some people could have thousands of pounds sitting in their name without realising it.<\/p>\n

The figures relate to Child Trust Funds \u2014 tax-free savings accounts that were created for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For some young adults, the account may have been opened so long ago that they have no memory of it at all.<\/p>\n

And in cases where parents or guardians did not open one themselves, HMRC could have opened an account on the child\u2019s behalf<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That is one reason why so many accounts remain untouched today.<\/p>\n

827,000 accounts are still sitting there<\/h3>\n

According to HMRC\u2019s latest figures, almost 3 million Child Trust Fund accounts belonging to 18 to 24-year-olds have already been claimed or transferred into an ISA since September 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But around 827,000 matured accounts remain unclaimed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The average balance of a matured Child Trust Fund still continuing as a CTF was \u00a32,310 as of April 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That does not mean every account contains exactly \u00a32,310.<\/p>\n

Some will hold less.<\/p>\n

Others may be worth considerably more depending on the original contribution, later payments and how the money was invested.<\/p>\n

But the scale of the unclaimed accounts means hundreds of thousands of people could still be unaware they have savings in their name.<\/p>\n

Some people never knew the account existed<\/h3>\n

Child Trust Funds were introduced to give children a financial asset that could be accessed when they reached adulthood.<\/p>\n

Parents or guardians were normally responsible for opening the account.<\/p>\n

However, where that did not happen, HMRC could allocate a Child Trust Fund provider and arrange for an account to be opened automatically.<\/p>\n

That means somebody who is now in their late teens or early twenties may have an account even if they have never personally seen paperwork relating to it.<\/p>\n

The account matures when the holder turns 18.<\/p>\n

At that point, the money belongs to them.<\/p>\n

They can normally withdraw it, leave it invested or transfer it into another eligible account.<\/p>\n

HMRC is actively trying to find the owners<\/h3>\n

The government has stepped up efforts to reconnect young adults with these forgotten accounts.<\/p>\n

A Child Trust Fund Taskforce has been established to bring government and savings providers together, with the aim of reducing the number of matured accounts that remain untouched.<\/p>\n

The oldest matured Child Trust Funds have now been sitting unclaimed for more than six years.<\/p>\n

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby said some young people may still not know that these savings are waiting for them.<\/p>\n

The issue is not that the government is holding a pot of cash waiting to hand it out.<\/p>\n

The money remains with banks, building societies and other Child Trust Fund providers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The challenge for some people is simply discovering where their account is.<\/p>\n

You may only need your National Insurance number<\/h3>\n

If someone already knows which provider holds their Child Trust Fund, they can contact that provider directly.<\/p>\n

But people who have no idea where the account is can use HMRC\u2019s official Child Trust Fund locator service<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

HMRC says almost 500,000 people used the GOV.UK locator tool in the nine months to August 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To search for their own account, users will generally need their National Insurance number<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The service itself is free. GOV.UK says HMRC can identify the provider that originally held the account, although the locator does not tell users the account balance directly.<\/p>\n

HMRC says an online request can be completed quickly, although people may then need to wait for details of the provider before accessing the actual funds.<\/p>\n

Who should check?<\/h3>\n

The key group is people born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For those who have already turned 18, the account may already have matured.<\/p>\n

And for anyone who does not remember ever having a Child Trust Fund, that does not necessarily mean there is no account.<\/p>\n

HMRC may have opened one automatically.<\/p>\n

This is particularly important for young adults whose parents no longer have the original paperwork, have changed address several times, or simply forgot the account existed.<\/p>\n

The average forgotten pot is now \u00a32,310<\/h3>\n

The latest HMRC statistics make the scale of the issue clear.<\/p>\n

As of 5 April 2026, around 2.9 million Child Trust Fund accounts remained open<\/strong>, including approximately 827,000 matured accounts that had not yet been claimed or transferred<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The average market value of those matured, continuing accounts was \u00a32,310<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For a young adult dealing with rent, university costs, a first car or other expenses, discovering an account containing a few thousand pounds could make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n

But unless the account holder tracks it down, the money can simply remain sitting with the provider.<\/p>\n

It takes only a few minutes to start checking<\/h3>\n

Anyone who believes they may have a Child Trust Fund can begin by asking their parents or guardians whether they remember which provider was used.<\/p>\n

If nobody knows, the official GOV.UK locator can be used to ask HMRC to identify the provider.<\/p>\n

There is no charge for using the government service.<\/p>\n

For hundreds of thousands of young adults, checking could be worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Because according to HMRC\u2019s latest figures, 827,000 matured accounts are still waiting \u2014 and the average one is worth \u00a32,310<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HM Revenue and Customs has issued a fresh alert after revealing that around 827,000 young adults still have matured Child Trust Funds waiting to be claimed. The average value of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2083,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions\/2083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playingwithtoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}