Are you missing out on £2,212 in unclaimed cash? Forgotten bank accounts could be a goldmine
SAVERS could be missing out on £2,212 in unclaimed cash – here is how you can track yours down.
Child Trust Funds are a type of tax free savings accounts, which were set up for every child born between September 2002 and January 2 2011.
Teens could be coming into a collective £4.7billion worth of Child Trust Fund cashGetty - Contributor
The Government deposited £250 for every child born between that period or £500 if they came from a low income family.
When the child turned seven, an extra £250 or £500, depending on their families’ economic status, was deposited.
In 2010, this was scaled back to £50 for better off households and £100 for those on a lower income.
The scheme was eventually axed in 2011, was later replaced with Junior ISAs.
Parents of friends can deposit up to £9,000 into the child’s account tax-free.
The money is usually invested into shares.
HMRC previously estimated that the average amount of savings tied up in each account is £2,212.
Youngsters can take control of these accounts at 16, but can not withdraw the cash until they are 18.
If you think you are entitled to a Child Trust Fund, you can track it down using a Government tool.
You can find this by searching for “find a Child Trust Fund” on GOV.UK.
You’ll need to have a few personal details to hand to do the search, including your date of birth and National Insurance (NI) number.
Your NI number remains the same for your entire life. It’s made up of two letters, six numbers and a final letter.
You can find this number on your payslips or by downloading the HMRC app, which can be downloaded on the Apple or Google Play Store.
When you’re done filling this out, HMRC will then send you a letter revealing what company has your Child Trust Fund.
There are a number of third party groups offering to search for Child Trust Funds but it’s worth noting that they will charge a fee so you might lose a chunk of your money.
Other ways you may have forgotten cash
And it is not just a Child Trust Fund that could have thousands squirrelled away.
Millions of workers have forgotten about old pensions from previous employers.
There are 3.3million lost pots worth a combined £31billion – up from 2.8million worth £26 billion two years ago, according to the Pensions Policy Institute.
An easy way to track the cash down is by using the Government’s free Pension Tracing Service.
This can be found by visiting https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details.
You could then consolidate your pension and help boost your retirement by over £20,000.
You can also track down lost bank and building society accounts using free online tools.
For example, My Lost Account can help customers trace missing bank account.
You should get a response from providers within three months.
I found £200,000 in lost pensions and it means I’m £2,500 a month richer
WHEN Carole Railton tried to track down a lost pension she found the adviser had shut up shop.
But three years ago the 73-year-old, who lives in Wapping, London, tracked down the lost cash and is now £2,500 a month richer.
In the late 1980s, Carole had been working for Xerox when a financial adviser persuaded her to switch from a company pension.
She, like thousands of others, had become a victim of pension mis-selling, where savers were lured into leaving gold-plated company pension schemes in favour of inferior self-funded personal pensions.
Carole, a body language expert, tried to track down her pension numerous times after leaving Xerox in the 1990s.
Eventually she got in touch with a financial adviser who managed to track down her lost pension.
Her lost fund was worth just over £200,000, which she used to buy an enhanced annuity which pays her £2,500 a month.
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