EXCLUSIVE: 'I found £2,000 in lost savings account after watching TikTok video'
Tayo Olutunde discovered he has a Child Trust Fund, which is a saving account that was given to children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011
We all know that not everything you see on social media is legit - so when Tayo Olutunde came across a video about Child Trust Funds on TikTok two years ago, he wasn't sure whether to believe it or not.
But fast forward to now, and after a bit of investigating, the accounting and finance student is just over £2,000 richer after discovering a Child Trust Fund that he never knew existed.
Child Trust Funds are saving accounts that were given to children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011. For each account, the child was given a voucher worth £250, or £500 for those from lower income families.
But if the parent didn't open the Child Trust Fund, then HMRC would have opened one on behalf of the child - this means many people may not realise they even have one of these accounts.
Approximately 670,000 Child Trust Funds remain unclaimed by young adults, with the average account estimated to be holding £2,200 in savings.
Tayo, aged 22 and living in Leeds, told The Mirror: "I found out about Child Trust Funds on TikTok… this was about two years ago. I was quite interested and I looked into it, but I thought, lets just leave it, as it sounded too good to be true.
"Fast forward to now, and I spoke to my mum and she said, yeah, I do have an account."
In most cases, it isn't too difficult to track down a Child Trust Fund, but if you have moved address a lot, then there may be some extra paperwork involved, as Tayo found - but it was ultimately worth the admin.
He said: "I moved house quite a lot as a kid. I moved to Nigeria as well for a few years, then I came back to the UK. I did find the address and then I got access to it. It took about a month or two months of emailing and post.
"I had slightly over £2,000 [in the account]. I spent £500 on it on a holiday last year to Milan with a load of my friends. The rest, I didn’t really need it, so I invested it."
Tayo added: "Why would you not take your free money? Go find out how much you have. Even if you don’t use it, you can invest it somewhere better."
It is only possible to access your Child Trust Fund once you turn 18. You can't open a new Child Trust Fund but you can continue to pay into an existing account.
How to find a lost Child Trust Fund account
If you know the name of your Child Trust Fund provider, you can contact it directly to find out more about your account. If you've lost track of your account, you can ask HMRC to help you locate it by filling out a form on GOV.UK.
You can ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund if you’re a parent or guardian of a child under 18, or if you’re 16 or over and looking for your own account.
You will need your National Insurance number and Government Gateway ID to fill out the online form. You can also request details by post by writing to: Charities, Savings and International 1, HMRC, BX9 1AU.
Try to include as many details as possible, such as your full name, date of birth and address of the account holder, plus your National Insurance number.
It comes as a leading charity is calling on the Government to introduce a scheme that will automatically release money sitting unclaimed in Child Trust Funds to their rightful owners.
The Share Foundation has helped over 95,000 young people find their Child Trust Funds with a total value of nearly £200million.
Gavin Oldham, OBE from The Share Foundation, said: "This is just one way to give young people from low-income backgrounds the best chance in transitioning to adult life and break the cycle of deprivation."
