Young adults urged to claim Child Trust Fund money

21 February 2024 , 10:36

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Young adults urged to claim Child Trust Fund money

If you were born in the United Kingdom on or after September 1, 2002 - and are aged 18 or over - you almost certainly have a Child Trust Fund (CTF) account, containing money for you from the government which you can now claim.

However, according to UK charity The Share Foundation, over a million young adults haven't claimed their accounts, each of which is typically worth around £1,000 or more.

This is mainly because HMRC opened it for them - if their family hadn't done so by their first birthday - and they don’t know about it. There’s over £2 billion waiting to be claimed.

In light of this, The Share Foundation is urging young adults to find out whether they’re owed Child Trust Fund money and how they can claim it if so.

If you're over 18, you most likely have a Child Trust Fund, containing money from the government (Dougal Waters Photography, Getty Images)

The registered charity, which works with the Department for Education, runs a search facility for unclaimed CTF accounts, and has already linked over 50,000 young adults with their money - that's over £100 million in total*.

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Around 98% of these accounts are reported to have been originally set up by HMRC.

The Share Foundation’s online search facility is completely free of charge, and has been designed with input from HMRC.

How to find and claim your money

If you're a young adult who's not claimed your Child Trust Fund money, or if you have family or friends in that situation, here’s what you need to do.

If you haven’t claimed your CTF money yet and were born in the UK on or after September 1, 2002, and are aged 18 or over, visit and enter your National Insurance number and other required details.

Registered charity The Share Foundation has an online search facility to help locate your account (Getty Images)

Following this, The Share Foundation will send you the contact details of the account provider who's administering your account. In most cases, this will be within 48 hours, but it could take longer if the charity has to follow it up with HMRC.

Alternatively, if you have family or friends in this situation or if you're a teacher, social worker, or in contact with young people, visit or to find out how you can help them, and to access more information about these accounts including video resources.

To find out more and request help in finding your Child Trust Fund money, visit

*Total calculated using the £1,900 average published by the National Audit Office in its 2023 CTF report.

Leena Sidat