A SAVVY saver is reminding thousands of teenagers to claim free cash sitting in their Child Trust Funds.
Ahmad Musa, a seventeen year old who goes by the username AhmadMusa01 on Tiktok, regularly shares tips on finance for his fellow teens.
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In one of his videos he has explained how they can claim £500 of cash they may have forgotten about – and potentially more.
The handy Tiktok tip is reminding everyone of a certain age about the government’s Child Trust Fund scheme (CTFs).
CTFs were opened by the government automatically for children when they were born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.
Thousands of the CTFs are still unclaimed despite the first teenagers eligible to have them turning eighteen last year.
It was recently estimated that there is an incredible £554million left in 305,000 unclaimed accounts.
Ahmad’s finance tips have built him a following of over 1.5million users with many of his videos getting over 50,000 views.
Ahmad says: “The government have put in £500 but the trust fund could be worth even more.”
He then directs teens to the following government page on Child Trust Funds where they can find how they’re able to claim their money.
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Since the CTFs were opened automatically, parents may not have been aware their children were automatically enrolled in the scheme.
If parents then moved house after their child was born, then the CTF provider may not know their up-to-date address.
When the Child Trust Fund scheme started, children automatically received a £250 voucher, although lower income families would have got £500.
Children born between 2002 and 2010 would have received an additional £250 when they turned seven.
Ahmad says he started sharing finance tips on Tiktok: “To educate people on what school doesn’t.”
His videos cover a wide range of financial tips for other teenagers such as how to lower your broadband bill and tax bands explained.
How to trace a missing Child Trust Fund?
If you’ve just turned 18 or your child has, the likelihood is that there’s a Child Trust Fund waiting to be claimed.
If you’ve lost the paperwork or aren’t sure, don’t panic, you can trace your account through the HMRC service.
Fill in the form online to ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where the account was originally opened.
You’ll need a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you fill in the online form.
If you’re a parent looking for your child’s trust fund, you’ll need either:
If you’re looking for your own trust fund, you’ll need your National Insurance number.
HMRC will send you details of the CTF provider by post within three weeks of receiving your request.
HMRC will contact you for more information if you’ve adopted the child or a court has given you parental responsibility for them.
What can you do with your Child Trust Fund?
Junior ISA provider AJ Bell explain all the options 18-year olds have for their Child Trust Fund savings:
Cash it in
Ask your CTF provider to hand over the money and get it paid into your current account.
If you do this you’ll lose the tax perks of the CTF, but for most people their personal savings allowance and capital gains tax allowance will be enough to protect any gains from tax in the short-term.
Transfer it to an ISA
You can transfer it to an ISA, either cash, stocks and shares, innovative finance or lifetime.
Any transfers won’t count towards the annual ISA subscription, so that means whatever sum you transfer you’ll still be able to put up to an additional £20,000 into your ISAs in total in the current tax year.
Any transfers to a Lifetime ISA will count towards the £4,000 annual limit though.
Do nothing
If you do nothing with the money your CTF provider will either transfer it to an ISA, if they offer one, or they’ll transfer it into a ‘protected account’, where it still won’t incur income or capital gains tax and it will sit until the account holder does something with it.
Claiming the money may be difficult, however, as the CTF providers often ask teens for proof of address such as utility bills and council tax statements, which most teens don’t yet have.
Thousands of Child Trust Funds have gone unclaimed this year worth £1,500 per child on average.
How saving £25 a month into a Junior Cash Isa could set your child up with almost £11,000 when they turn 18.
We’ve told you before how you can give your child £18,000 on their 18th birthday by saving just £1.67 a day.
TikTok user reveals how you may be able to claim free money from the government that’s sitting in your Child Trust Fund
