Urgent warning over £1000s hidden away in untouched bank accounts – could you be sitting on a fortune?

AN URGENT warning has been issued to millions of Brits who are entitled to £1,000s.

ITV’s Chris Choi revealed how an estimated £89 billion in lost funds is sitting unclaimed in around 28million accounts in his documentary Claim Your Cash? Britain’s Hidden Fortune.

ITV

Chris Choi highlighted how £1.7billion in lost Child Trust Funds are sitting unclaimed.

A government policy called The Child Trust Fund scheme, was introduced in 2002 to help give young people a financial boost.

Any parents who had children born between 2002 and 2011 would have been sent a letter at the time explaining how to trigger the benefits.

Many children received a starting payment voucher of £250 each from the government at the time their CTF was started.

While those from low-income families or in local authority care received an additional £250, or £500 in total.

The Public Accounts Committee reported that a million young adults – or 42 per cent of all 18 to 20-year-olds entitled to the money – are missing out on it.

THOUSANDS MISSING

And, the HMRC estimates the average total sitting in these accounts is around £2,100.

Roman, a 17-year-old lad planning on going to uni, contacted the show to help find his cash pot.

He said: “They gave me a link to register to be able to access it and they told me I had £500 which I was surprised by.

“I’m really happy and excited to use it, put it towards a car. I’m going to uni and will be staying at home because it’s cheaper and having a car for that will cut down on bus and train prices.

“It will contribute a large sum of it.”

PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said: “In an ongoing cost of living crisis, our young people need every bit of support we can give them.

“HMRC still has time to make sure that CTFs are given the chance to be the boost to young people’s futures which they were designed to be.”

TRACE FUNDS

There are plenty of free services to help track down your unclaimed dough.

Chris Choi warned Brits to stay clear of websites that charge.

Free tracing services include Share Found which allows teens to access the money when they turn 18-years-old.

At this point, the child automatically takes over the account and no more money can be added.

Until a child withdraws or transfers the money, it stays in an account that no one else has access to – unless you apply for financial deputyship to help make a withdrawal.

To gain access you will have to enter the child’s name, date of birth, NI number and address.

There is more information on the gov.uk website and applicants can either submit their request form online or on a printed document that can be posted.

If you already know who your Child Trust Fund provider is, contact them directly.

If you do not know the provider, you can ask your parent or guardian.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will also be able to tell you where to find a Child Trust Fund and where the account was originally opened.

You can ask your CTF provider to hand over the money and get it paid into a bank account.

You’ll need to share the bank account details you wish to transfer the cash into with HMRC.

Another good investment is transferring it into an ISA.

An ISA is an Individual Savings Account and you don’t pay tax on the interest you earn in these types of accounts.

Or, a wise option for young people may be putting it into a Lifetime ISA to save for their first home.

LOST PENSIONS

It was also revealed there are more than 2.8million missing pension pots sitting unclaimed.

More than ten million new people started saving into pensions in 2012 for the first time, as a result of auto-enrolment into schemes by employers.

However, as people move jobs, move home, get married, they lose touch with their pension providers.

The average amount in each lost account is around £23,000, which could be life-changing.

But, the largest single pension found to date is worth more than £350,000.

Overall there are billions of pounds across these lost pensions – but it can be overwhelming to track them down.

Chris Choi spoke to experts who advise those struggling to dig out all their pension paperwork as most companies will send you an annual statement.

The government also provides a pension tracing service.

You will have to enter the name of your previous employer and the system then aims to inform you of which provider they use.

It can be used to trace both private and workplace pensions.

ITV spoke to one woman, Tara, who lost 10 to 11 of her pensions when her name changed.

She said: “I thought, I’ve lost it. I’m never ever gonna get my hands on money that I’ve paid into from when I was very, very young. I want my money back.”

But the savvy dancer traced over £100,000 in lost pensions.