HMRC issues new £2,200 alert to parents with children turning 18

HMRC has urged parents to check if their child has a forgotten savings account worth £2,200.

The warning relates to Child Trust Funds, which are accounts that were given to children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.

Each child was given a voucher worth £250, or £500 for those from lower income families, with the purpose being to encourage families to start saving.

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Parents could top up the Child Trust Fund with up to £9,000 each tax year. If the parent didn't open the Child Trust Fund, then HMRC would have opened one on behalf of the child - this is why many of these accounts end up missing or forgotten about.

The latest data from HMRC shows the average Child Trust Fund is worth £2,200 - although some people may have more or less than this amount, depending how much was saved into the account.

In a post on X, previously known as Twitter, HMRC wrote: "Attention parents! If your child has recently turned 18, they may have a #ChildTrustFund, worth an average of £2,200."

You can't open a new Child Trust Fund but you can continue to pay into an existing account. It is only possible to access your Child Trust Fund once you turn 18.

How to find a lost Child Trust Fund account

If you know the name of your Child Trust Fund provider, you can contact it directly to find out more about your account. If you've lost track of your account, you can ask HMRC to help you locate it by filling out a form on GOV.UK.

You can ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund if you’re a parent or guardian of a child under 18, or if you’re 16 or over and looking for your own account.

You will need your National Insurance number and Government Gateway ID to fill out the online form. You can also request details by post by writing to: Charities, Savings and International 1, HMRC, BX9 1AU.

Try to include as many details as possible, such as your full name, date of birth and address of the account holder, plus your National Insurance number.

The Mirror recently reported on how accounting and finance student Tayo Olutunde discovered he had a Child Trust Fund worth more than £2,000.

Tayo, aged 22 and living in Leeds, told The Mirror: "I found out about Child Trust Funds on TikTok… this was about two years ago. I was quite interested and I looked into it, but I thought, lets just leave it, as it sounded too good to be true.

"Fast forward to now, and I spoke to my mum and she said, yeah, I do have an account."