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Do you have an unclaimed Child Trust Fund?

Every child born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 got a Child Trust Fund, with at least £250 paid in by the government.

The account matures at 18 and the money belongs to that person outright. Many were opened by HMRC on the family's behalf, so no parent ever saw a statement.

HMRC said in September 2025 that 758,000 matured accounts were unclaimed, averaging £2,240. Finding yours is free.

This is 1 of 31 Checks in the ClaimPilot rule library. The whole answer is below, including the free route. Nothing on this page needs paying for.

Estimated

£2,240 is the average unclaimed account (HMRC, 2025)

Effort

20 minutes

Deadline

No deadline. The money stays in a protected account.

Last verified

27 August 2026

Estimated ranges are estimates, never promises. The figure you actually receive depends on your own circumstances and on the body you send the letter to.

01

Who this applies to

  • You were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 and are now 18 or over.
  • Or you are the parent or guardian of someone in that group who has not claimed.
  • You do not know which provider holds the account, or whether one exists.
  • The family moved, or the account was set up by HMRC rather than by a parent.

02

What it is worth

£2,240 is the average unclaimed matured account (HMRC, 2025). Yours could be a few hundred pounds or several thousand.

The government paid in at least £250 at birth, and £250 more at age 7 for children born before August 2010.

Anything a family added, plus roughly two decades of investment growth, sits on top of that.

03

The free route, step by step

You can do all of this yourself, free, today. We are not in the middle of it and we take no share of it.

  1. 01Use the GOV.UK locator tool. You will need a Government Gateway account and your National Insurance number.
  2. 02HMRC replies with the name of the provider holding the account, usually by post within a few weeks.
  3. 03Contact that provider directly to claim. They will ask for identity documents, not a fee.
  4. 04If you are under 18, you can take ownership of the account at 16 but cannot withdraw until 18.
GOV.UK — find a Child Trust Fund

04

Evidence you will need

  • Your National Insurance number, which goes to HMRC and never to us
  • Your date of birth and any previous names
  • Addresses your family lived at between 2002 and 2011
  • Photo ID for the claim itself, once the provider is named

ClaimPilot never asks for any of this. The Scan asks about circumstances, not identity, and no letter is pre-filled with data we did not need.

05

What to watch for

  • There is no deadline and no risk of the money vanishing. Do not let anyone tell you to hurry.
  • Never pay a finder's fee. HMRC's locator and the provider's claim process are both free.
  • If the person named on the account has died, the money forms part of their estate and a different process applies.
  • Withdrawing is not automatically the best move. The balance can be transferred into an adult ISA instead, and that choice is yours alone.

06

Sources

Last verified: 27 August 2026. A Check last verified more than 180 days ago is withdrawn from the library until someone checks it again.

That was 1 of 31 Checks. Which of the other 30 apply to you?

The free Money Leak Calculator runs 4 of them against your circumstances in about a minute, and gives you a number. The full Scan runs all 31.

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