Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the total value of unclaimed funds currently residing in Child Trust Fund accounts.
HMRC is working closely with Child Trust Fund providers and the wider industry to assist those who have difficulty in locating a misplaced Child Trust Fund account.
HMRC:
In addition, while CTF providers are already required to send regular statements to the contact for the account, regulations were laid on 15 January which will require them to send a statement in the year the child reaches 17 in anticipation of the maturity of the account.
If a child, or their parent, does not know which provider is managing the child’s account, HMRC provides a tracing service, which can be accessed at: www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
As accounts do not begin to mature until September 2020, no accounts are currently unclaimed, and the total value of unclaimed funds is zero.
The regulations laid on 15 January ensure that any CTF account not claimed by the account holder when they turn 18 will retain its tax-free status until it is claimed. These regulations also provide that funds in a mature CTF may be transferred to an ISA without counting towards the individual’s annual ISA subscription limit.