Thousands of young adults in the UK are about to receive letters from the taxman telling them they have money they probably forgot existed. HMRC announced last week it will write to all 21-year-olds whose Child Trust Fund accounts remain unclaimed, as part of a government push to reunite more than 750,000 people with savings worth £2,200 ($2,910) on average,GOV.UKdisclosed.

'Hundreds of thousands of young people in this country don't know they have a CTF, let alone how to access it,' said Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury. 'Some will have a couple of thousand pounds sat there that would really help them as they begin adult life.'

Child Trust Funds was aLabour-era savings schemethat ran between 2005 and 2011. The government deposited at least £250 ($331) into a tax-free account for every child born in the UK during that window—1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011. Families on lower incomes received £500 ($662), with a further £250 paid at age seven. Parents and guardians could add up to £1,200 ($1,590) a year. Around 6.3 million accounts were opened before the scheme was replaced by Junior ISAs.

A post shared by Lucy Rigby MP (@rigby.lucy)

The government poured roughly £3.3 billion ($4.4 billion) into those accounts. Families contributed another £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion). Investment growth pushed balances higher still. HMRC data published in September 2025 put the average matured CTF at £2,242 ($2,970), though some accounts are worth far more depending on how much parents put in,GOV.UKrevealed.

Account holders can take control at 16 and withdraw from 18. But families moved houses, lost paperwork, or simply never told their children the money was there.

HMRC picked 21 as the target age for a practical reason. By that point, most people have filed a tax return through PAYE employment or dealt with the student finance system, which means their address on HMRC's records is more likely to be current. A letter sent to a 19-year-old who moved out of their parents' house six months ago has a decent chance of going nowhere.

The exact number of letters heading out has not been confirmed. HMRC said it would be 'many thousands,' dispatched in stages. No end date has been set.

Rigby also held a roundtable with CTF providers earlier in the week. Nationwide, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, and several smaller mutual societies attended to discuss how the industry itself could do more to flagdormant accountsto their holders.

One immediate risk is fraud. HMRC will only contact CTF holders by post. Any email, text message, or phone call claiming to be about a Child Trust Fund is a scam. Suspicious texts can be forwarded to 60599 and reported through GOV.UK.

Source: International Business Times UK