OneFamily
Through campaigning for the voiceless and most vulnerable, we can bring about change that makes a difference to people's lives.
We’ve been campaigning for over four years for the government to simplify access to child trust fund (CTF) savings for young people who lack mental capacity to manage their own money.
In these cases, the child’s family are currently advised to go through the Court of Protection to ask for the money to be released. This is often a stressful, lengthy and costly process, with some people unfairly missing out on money that’s legally theirs.
Our Head of PR and Communications, Jo Gilham, attended a Westminster Hall Debate in March 2024 to represent OneFamily and the financial services industry.
The debate was a positive step forwards for the families we’re trying to help, with the Minister responsible for CTF access committing to look at how to make the system more accessible.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat Leader, spoke about the difficulties that families experience with the Court of Protection process and congratulated providers, such as OneFamily, for putting in place a simpler, common-sense solution to help these families to access their child’s savings.
So far, we’ve helped nearly 2,100 of our customers, who would otherwise have had to apply to the Court of Protection, to reach their savings.
Another cause close to our hearts affects our lifetime ISA customers.
Lifetime ISAs (LISAs) can be used by account holders to buy their first home or for retirement, and come with a 25% government bonus on the money that’s been paid in.
However, if money is withdrawn for anything other than a first home or retirement (from the age of 60) then the account holder must pay a penalty charge of 25%.
This means that, as well as losing the bonus, they lose some of their savings too.
The rising cost of homes means that the 2017 cap that was put on the cost of the property that could be bought with a LISA – £450,000 – is outdated.
If a buyer cannot use their LISA to buy their first home, because it costs more than £450,000, they will have to withdraw their savings and then incur the 25% penalty fee.
We think this is unfair, so we’ve been urging the government to make changes to the LISA penalty and property cap.
These simple updates could make LISAs a critical tool in helping the next generation to move out of rented accommodation and into the stability of their own homes.
We’ll continue to lobby the government on behalf of our customers.
