Overview

• Each unclaimed account is worth about £2,242 on average, with media estimating roughly £1.7 billion outstanding.
• More than 563,000 people used the GOV.UK finder in the 12 months to the end of August 2025, according to HMRC.
• Submitting a request on GOV.UK takes about five minutes with a National Insurance number and date of birth, and most replies arrive within three weeks.
• The scheme covered children born from 1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011; account holders can take control at 16 and access funds at 18.
• Once located, funds can be withdrawn or transferred to an adult ISA, and transfers at maturity do not count toward the £20,000 annual ISA limit.