Child Trust Fund

The Government recognises it is vital to step up efforts to reunite young people with their unclaimed matured Child Trust Funds (CTFs), regardless of whether the account was opened by HMRC or by a parent. Around three million accounts have now matured, of which over three quarters of a million remain unclaimed. Recognising the scale of the challenge and building on existing steps, the Government has put in place three new initiatives.

Firstly, HMRC will be carrying out social research to better understand the barriers that may prevent young people from engaging with their CTF. This work will improve our understanding of how young people respond to communications about their accounts, and how Government and industry can encourage more account holders to act.

Secondly, HMRC will be writing directly to 21 year olds whose matured CTFs remain unclaimed. These letters will make young people aware that they have a CTF and encourage them to take steps to claim it.

Thirdly, Government has launched a dedicated CTF Taskforce, bringing together Government and CTF providers to improve tracing approaches and identify more effective ways to engage young people.

Information on CTFs is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics published on Gov.uk:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025

We cannot provide the number or total value of matured CTFs that were opened by HMRC because the information required to identify these accounts is not included in the statistical returns that HMRC receives from providers.