CTFs were opened for all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Parents received a £250 voucher (low income families received £500) to open a cash or investment CTF. Accounts were opened automatically for children if parents failed to take action, and the government then made a further payment on the child’s 7th birthday.

Parents, grandparents and family friends can contribute into these accounts, currently up to £9,000 a year, meaning many CTFs have sizeable balances on maturity. However, government payments ceased on 31 July 2010 and a year later CTFs were replaced by Junior ISAs, which never had a government contribution.

A CTF reverts to the child’s name at 16, and they can access this money on their 18th birthday, or transfer funds to an adult ISA so savings can continue to grow.

Unclaimed funds

Government figures show that 670,000 of these maturing CTFs are untouched — with the average balance on these ‘lost’ accounts standing at £2,212.

CTFs maturing today would have been paper-based accounts, but there is a digital tool via gov.uk to help people track down lost accounts. This can be useful if parents have mislaid statements and paperwork, forgotten which provider was used, or if that provider has subsequently merged or been taken over.

The account holder will also need to set up a Government Gateway account. If they don’t know the CTF provider, they will need a few key details, including their home address (at birth) and national insurance number.

The online tool will then identify the original CTF provider. The account holder then contacts the provider directly, who can disclose details on the balance in the account, and what they need to do to access these funds or transfer them into another savings vehicle.