How do I know if the government gave me a child trust fund?
If you were born as a UK resident between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, the government will very likely have given you a child trust fund voucher.
The voucher will have been worth anywhere from £50 to £500, depending on when you were born and your family’s circumstances.
Your parents could use the voucher to choose a child trust fund to open for you, but if they didn’t do this within a year the voucher expired and the government opened one for you. Child trust funds opened by the government are called "revenue allocated accounts".
If the government opened your child trust fund for you, it will have chosen a provider on your behalf. It’s worth being aware that this may be different to the provider that holds your siblings’ child trust funds.
Why do my parents not know about my child trust fund?
Having a newborn baby is hard work and at this chaotic time it would have been easy to miss a letter from the government about child trust funds. Your parents might have moved house and missed the letter or it might simply have been lost in the post.
Whether or not your parents were aware, if you think you might have a child trust fund there’s a simple process to follow to find and access it.
How to find your child trust fund if the government opened it for you
The process of finding a child trust fund is the same whether you’re looking for your own child trust fund or your child’s.
However:
- if you’re looking for your own child trust fund, you must be 16 or over,
- if you’re looking for your child’s child trust fund, they must be younger than 18.
Anyone under 16 will need to ask their parent or legal guardian to register, but if you’re 18 or over you will need to register yourself.
If you’ve been living at the same address since you/your child was born, it’s worth having a dig through any old post you might have kept, as we will have sent you account statements.
These statements will have all the information you’ll need about the child trust fund, so you won’t have to go through the process of looking for it!
1. Head to the HMRC’s “Find a Child Trust Fund” page.
There, you can fill out an online form to ask HMRC about your child trust fund.
What you’ll need:
- The child trust fund owner’s National Insurance Number
- Your Government Gateway user ID and password (if you don’t already have one, you can just create one when you try to sign in) so you can log in and use HMRC services.
You can also send the form back in the post if you prefer. HMRC will explain this option and what you need to send.
2. HMRC will then send you a letter with a unique reference number (URN), the name of the company the child trust fund is with and a contact number for that company.
If the child trust fund is with us, it’s in your name and you’re over 16, you can then simply register for a OneFamily online account. You do need to know your National Insurance Number to do this!
3. If you’re the parent of the child trust fund holder, you’ll need to give the company a call and explain that you believe your child’s child trust fund is with them.
If the child trust fund is in your name but you’re not yet 16, your parent will need to call on your behalf.
What you’ll need:
- The unique reference number that HMRC gave you
- The address you were living at when you/your child was born, and any address up until your/their first birthday. If you’ve forgotten, don’t worry, there are tools you can use to help find your old address such as a postcode finder or you could look through any old documents you’ve kept.
4. Different providers may have different processes, but if the child trust fund is with us, we’ll then post you a form which you’ll need to complete and post back to us.
5. After we’ve received your form, we’ll then be able to link you to the child trust fund.
We’ll send you another letter with all the account details so you can register for an online account.
And that’s it! You should now receive emails from your provider letting you know what happens next and explaining your options for when the child trust fund matures.
I’m trying to find my child’s child trust fund on their behalf, but they’ve already turned 18
If you’re trying to find your child’s child trust fund but they’ve already turned 18, you can still help them get access to their money.
You can go through the process with HMRC and get the account details for your child. However, as the child trust fund has matured, your child will need to register to take control of the account. If your child’s child trust fund sits with us, they can simply register online.
I‘m looking for my own child trust fund, but I’m not yet 16
If you’re not yet 16, you’ll have to ask your parent or legal guardian to find your child trust fund for you – whether that means going through the process with HMRC or simply calling your child trust fund provider. If your child trust fund is with us, when your 16th birthday comes along you’ll be able to create your own online account to take over managing it. Other providers might have different processes in place, so it's worth checking once you know which provider has your child trust fund.
What is lifestyling and does it affect my child trust fund?
When child trust funds were first introduced, they included a lifestyling facility. This means that, from the age of 13, money in a child's child trust fund would be gradually moved to lower-risk investments. In 2017 however this requirement was lifted, and OneFamily decided not to adopt lifestyling for child trust funds held with us.
If your child trust fund is with us, it no longer has lifestyling. If you'd like to find out more, please visit our page on lifestyling for child trust fund customers.
You may also be interested in:
How to trace a lost Child Trust Fund
Some six million young people across the UK have a Child Trust Fund. But research suggests that more than one in six of them may have been lost
How to find your National Insurance number
Your National Insurance number is a number given to you by the UK government to keep track of your tax record and benefit entitlements.
The next steps for your Child Trust Fund
It’s been great supporting you in your savings journey over the years, so why don’t we keep the relationship going?
Should I reinvest my Child Trust Fund money?
A quick guide to reinvesting your Child Trust Fund money with OneFamily in a Stocks and Shares ISA or Lifetime ISA.