What is a Child Trust Fund?
The Child Trust Fund is a tax-free savings account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Even if the parent was unable to deposit the voucher before it expired, the government would still have automatically opened a Child Trust Fund for the child. This is sometimes referred to as a “Revenue Allocated Account”.
Whilst you can’t open a new Child Trust Fund account, you can still contribute up to £9,000 per year (from birthday to birthday) to an existing Child Trust Fund account.
There are other tax-free savings options for children, including the Junior ISA or the Child Tax Exempt Savings Plans (CSPs).
Where is my Child Trust Fund?
During the Child Trust Fund scheme, accounts were set up with various Child Trust Fund providers, and it is likely siblings will have different providers. However, tracking down your Child Trust Fund should be a relatively easy process.
If you're unsure where your Child Trust Fund is, please use the government's free Find a Child Trust Fund tool. Alternatively The Share Foundation offers support to young adults in finding their Child Trust Fund, you can learn more about ‘How it Works’ by visiting their website.
How much is my Child Trust Fund worth?
Throughout the scheme, parents or guardians of eligible children received vouchers worth between £50 and £1,000 to invest with a Child Trust Fund provider (or a provider was allocated for them).
The value of your Child Trust Fund depends on a few things:
- The initial government contribution (£50 or upwards – the amount paid in depended on a families circumstances and the child’s year of birth).
- Any additional contributions from family or friends.
- The type of account (cash or stocks and shares).
- How the overall fund has performed, if it’s invested in stocks and shares.
You can stay updated on the value of a Child Trust Fund by becoming the registered contact.
Who manages my Child Trust Fund Account?
While the money in a Child Trust Fund is held for the child (“account holder”) until they turn 18, who manages the account depends on their age and circumstances:
If you’re under 16 – a parent or guardian will likely be the correspondent or registered contact on your Child Trust Fund account. Parents can apply to become a registered contact if they aren’t already (limited to one parent). They can then receive details about your account and manage any changes.
If you’re over 16 – When you turn 16, you can apply to be the registered contact on the account (via the Hub) and manage the account until you turn 18.
If you’ve turned 18 – Regardless of who the registered contact is, when you turn 18, the money is yours. Only the account holder can withdraw the funds from the account.
How to manage and access your Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund
If a Child Trust Fund is with Unity Mutual, how you manage your account will depend on your age:
Under 18: Child Trust Fund Hub - To manage your account, you (16 or above) or a parent/guardian need to become the registered contact on the account through the Hub. Once registered, you can check your balance, update your contact details, or transfer the funds to a Unity Mutual Junior ISA or one from another provider.
Turned 18: Child Trust Fund Portal - Before your 18th birthday, Unity Mutual will send a maturity letter with instructions on how to access our portal, including your unique reference number. You can then access your money and let us know what you’d like to do with it.
Important:
- To avoid delays, please make sure we have the correct contact details for you.
- To manage or access your account, you will need to provide ID and proof of address (See our FAQ’s for more information).
- For more details on your Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund, please view our Terms and Conditions.
What happens when my Child Trust Fund “matures”?
When you turn 18, your Child Trust Fund ‘matures’, and you can now withdraw the money. Unity Mutual will contact you before your birthday, giving you time to decide whether you withdraw it, reinvest it into another savings account – or even do both.
What next? Ready to keep investing?
Like many Child Trust Fund account holders, this might be your first step into “investing”, so chat with the Unity Mutual team about your options. It’s never too early to start saving for the future.
You can contact our team 9am to 5pm Monday-Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays on 0161 214 4650 or email us at info@unitymutual.co.uk.
The Important Bits:
- £9,000 a year can still be paid into a Child Trust Fund account (until the child reaches 18).
- You can transfer an existing Child Trust Fund account (from any provider) into a Junior ISA.
- Unity Mutual Child Trust Funds are invested in a stocks and shares fund, which means the investment value can rise and fall, so you could get back less than was paid in.
- Only once the account holder turns 18 can money be withdrawn from the account.
- Protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
- FAQs for Parents
- FAQs for Account Holders
- Performance
If your child or children were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, and you don’t remember investing the voucher(s), you may need help locating the Child Trust Fund. In this case, the government’s free Find a Child Trust Fund tool can be used to track it down.
When HMRC allocated Child Trust Fund accounts, they were assigned to providers in rotation, and they didn’t necessarily keep siblings together. If you’re unsure which provider your children have accounts with, please refer to Q1.
Although Child Trust Funds aren’t open to new business, it is possible for the account holder, correspondent or registered contact to transfer an existing Child Trust Fund account to another provider, and these funds will then be placed into a Junior ISA.
Looking to transfer a Child Trust Fund to Unity Mutual – simply complete our Transfer Form or request it by post to transfer a Child Trust Fund to our Junior ISA free of charge.
Looking to transfer your Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund – to transfer a Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund to another provider, you’ll need to contact your chosen provider and request a Child Trust Fund transfer form. Once Unity Mutual receives your completed form, we will contact the other provider to request the funds, and once any cancellation period has expired (30 days), we’ll arrange the transfer.
Important:
The Registered Contact has the right to cancel the transfer if they wish; they can do this by contacting our insurance team before the transfer has been authorised.
How much you can pay into a Child Trust Fund may vary from year to year (see contribution limits). Parents, family members, friends or even the child themselves can pay into a Child Trust Fund (minimum payment £5) via:
- Bank Transfer
- Direct Debit
- Debit Card
- Cheque
To pay into a Child Trust Fund, please Make a Payment through the secure portal.
Important:
The Child Trust Fund “year” runs from the child’s birthday in one year to the day before their birthday in the following year.
All money paid into the account belongs to the child, who can only access it when they reach 18.
The Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund account is used to buy “units” of investment in the Unity Mutual Equity Fund. The price for these units is set every Monday, and this is also when we will update your policy value.
This fund tracks how well the UK stock market is doing and includes over 600 UK companies. Investing in so many companies lowers the risk because if one company isn’t doing well, others help balance it out.
Before 18 - It is not possible to withdraw money from a Child Trust Fund before the account holder turns 18, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as terminal illness or death (see Q8). However, Child Trust Funds can be transferred into a Junior ISA (see Q3).
Turned 18 - The Child Trust Fund will mature on the date of the child’s (“account holder”) 18th birthday, when they can decide what they wish to do with the money. All money paid into the account belongs to the child, and Unity Mutual can only accept their decision as the account holder, regardless of whether a parent has been the Registered Contact on the account since birth.
How much a Child Trust Fund may be worth in the future depends on a number of things, such as how much has been paid in and the performance of the fund (see Q5 for more details) or the Performance tab.
Important:
As the fund is invested in stocks and shares, the value can fall as well as rise, meaning your child could get back less than has been paid in.
In the event that your child passes away, Unity Mutual will provide 101% of the account's value to the person with parental responsibility. This will be done once we have received the necessary documentation, such as a death certificate.
If your child is under 18 and becomes terminally ill, there may be options to access funds from the account for their benefit. So, it’s important that you are the registered contact on the account. The specifics of how funds can be accessed in this situation will be determined by HMRC.
If either of these situations applies to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us; we’re here to support you through the process.
The money held in a Child Trust Fund account is free from income or capital gains tax.
This means that under current legislation, your child won’t have to pay any tax on the money they withdraw from their Child Trust Fund account.
If you were born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, and need help locating your Child Trust Fund, use the government's free Find a Child Trust Fund tool to track it down.
The Share Foundation also support young adults locate their Child Trust Fund. Find out more about ‘How it Works’ by visiting their website.
In order to access the portal, you’ll need:
- Your 5-part unique access code – This can be found on the 2nd page of your maturity letter, which you should receive from us approximately 3 weeks before you turn 18. If you’ve lost your maturity letter, please get in touch with us to request a new code.
- ID – Such as a birth certificate, passport, driving license (or provisional).
- Proof of address – e.g. letter from HMRC, Bank statement (must include name and address).
Important:
Once we write to you, we will request both proof of who you are and where you live. So, you will need to provide two unique pieces of ID. You can upload these on the Child Trust Fund portal, or email them to us at info@unitymutual.co.uk.
If the address on your account doesn’t match the address you’re at now, the Registered Contact on the account can update this, via our Registered Contact Hub.
Don’t worry if you’ve only just found out you have a Child Trust Fund with Unity Mutual or you’re struggling to find the right documents; your account will stay open. Here’s what happens:
- When a Child Trust Fund “matures”, it will remain invested in the same fund as your Child Trust Fund until it’s claimed or reinvested.
- You will still be able to access the money from this account, but you cannot pay into it.
It can take 1-2 weeks for the money to show up on your account balance if you’ve chosen to withdraw some or all of your funds once you turn 18.
Please see below for the current and historical performance of our Child Trust Funds; please speak to a member of the Unity Mutual team if you’re unsure of what fund you’re invested in.
