Child trust funds worth £1.4bn still unclaimed

Latonya, 20, is one of 6.3m people born between Sept 2002 and Jan 2011 who had a child trust fund kick started by a payment, usually £250, from the government.

The idea was the long-term tax-free savings pot would go up in value by their 18th birthdays.

The average amount in Child Trust Funds is estimated to be around £2,000 because of growth over the years and extra money put in by family and friends.

But like hundreds of thousands of others, when Latonya turned 18 she had no idea her fund existed.

The Share Foundation, external, a charity which helps people track down lost and unclaimed funds, is calling for automatic pay-outs for some of these funds if they’ve not been claimed by the time account holders turn 21.

“I think it’s a great plan to be honest,” said Latonya. “My college tutor told me about it but my brother is a year older and went to the same college and he wasn’t told about it so it’s luck of the draw who knows, who tells who.

“Especially with cost of living, getting it automatically when you didn’t know you had it could really give people a break that they need.”