Hundreds of thousands of students could have a forgotten £2,000 pot waiting to be claimed – are you missing out?

HUNDREDS of thousands of students could be sitting on a forgotten £2,000 pot of cash. Child Trust Funds are a type of tax free savings accounts, which were set up for every child born between September 2002 and January 2 2011. Thousands of students could be missing out on a £2,000 pot of unclaimed cash Credit: Alamy The government deposited £250 for every child born between that period or £500 if they came from a low- income family. When the child turned seven, an extra £250 or £500, depending on their families’ economic status, was deposited. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! In 2010, this was scaled back to £50 for better- off households and £100 for those on a lower income. The scheme was eventually axed in 2011, was later replaced with Junior ISAs. Accounts can go unclaimed for a number of reasons such as difficultly locating them, people forgetting they have them, or a decision to leave the funds invested. But now the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is urging university and college students and their parents to check whether they have a forgotten Child Trust Fund. It comes as HMRC research found around 760,000 accounts are sitting unclaimed. Each account is worth £2,000. “Students heading to college or university in September could have a welcome surprise of a few thousand pounds that’s been hidden away, if their parents opened a Child Trust Fund that they’ve since forgotten exists,” Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, explained. Most read in Money “The FCA highlights HMRC data that shows 760,000 matured CTFs, worth an average of £2,000 each, remain unclaimed. That’s a collective £1.5million pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow. “Getting a slice of that money could make a massive difference to someone struggling to make ends meet during their studies.” How to track down missing money If you think you are entitled to a Child Trust Fund, you can track it down using a Government tool. You can find this by searching for “find a Child Trust Fund” on GOV.UK. You’ll need to have a few personal details to hand to do the search, including your date of birth and National Insurance (NI) number. Your NI number remains the same for your entire life. It’s made up of two letters, six numbers and a final letter. You can find this number on your payslips or by downloading the HMRC app, which can be downloaded on the Apple or Google Play Store. When you’re done filling this out, HMRC will then send you a letter revealing what company has your Child Trust Fund. There are a number of third- party groups offering to search for Child Trust Funds but it’s worth noting that they will charge a fee so you might lose a chunk of your money. Comment now