The unclaimed £1,500 million…

At first sight, it seems improbable that Donald Trump should copy an idea pioneered by Gordon Brown, the Blair-era UK Chancellor, but that is what happened this year. The US President’s One Big Beautiful Bill allows the creation of ‘Trump Accounts’ for children born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2028, into which the US government will place $1,000 (about £750). Parents and their employers will be able to make limited top up payments until the account matures at age 18.

The UK lesson ignored

The UK predecessor of the Trump Account, the Child Trust Fund (CTF), was launched in January 2005 and lasted for six years before payments stopped shortly after a change of government. For children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, the government made one payment of £250 (doubled for certain poorer families) plus, for early entrants to the scheme, another £250/£500 at age seven. In total 6.3 million CTFs were created, receiving about £2bn of government funding.

Just over a quarter of those accounts were opened in default by HMRC because the child’s parents or guardians had failed to act for a year after receiving the CTF voucher.

And now…

The first CTF matured in September 2020 and statistics recently issued by HMRC show that, by April 2025:

• Nearly 2.3m had matured.

• 1.65m had either been claimed or transferred.

• 758,000 (33%) were unclaimed.

The unclaimed CTFs have an average value of around £2,000 each – hence the £1.5bn outstanding amount. HMRC says that 27,000 of the unclaimed accounts have values of at least £10,000, of which 7,000 are worth £25,000 or more.

The government saw the inertia problem coming down the tracks and, long ago, legislated to ensure that post-maturity CTFs continued to enjoy the same tax freedoms as they did before maturity. However, a CTF set up at least 18 years ago may not now be the appropriate investment for its adult owner.

Tracking down lost CTFs

The starting point to find a lost CTF is the HMRC’s locator tool (https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund). This can give the name of the CTF provider, which may well have changed as there have been many mergers of CTF administrators over the last 20 years. What the tool cannot show is the CTF’s value.

Action

It could be your 23-year-old graduate grandchild who is unaware of their CTF nest egg, created a couple of decades ago. Do not assume it has been sorted: with very few exceptions, if the adult’s/child’s date of birth fits within that 2002-2011 range they will have had a CTF.

CTFs were a product of their time. If you, your child or grandchild still have one, take advice on whether it is still the right savings choice. If the CTF has not matured, a transfer to a Junior ISA could be worth considering.