Misleading Child Trust Fund claims ads BANNED after MSE complaint – here's how to trace yours for free
Misleading Child Trust Fund (CTF) adverts that targeted young people on social media have been banned following a complaint by MoneySavingExpert.com. The Turner Lewis Ltd ads claimed savers had "nothing to lose" despite the firm charging possibly £100s for its services.
Regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told Turner Lewis to ensure that future ads do not mislead, omit material information, or take advantage of consumers' "inexperience and credulity".
When we first came across the ads last October, MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis issued a warning against using third-parties firms to trace CTFs. As we explain below, you can reclaim missing CTFs yourself for free.
Martin Lewis: 'We're delighted to see these ads won't be allowed to appear again'
The Advertising Standards Authority has rightly agreed with us about how inappropriate these adverts are – taking advantage of young people to charge them to access their own money when there is no need.
To advertise a service without mentioning the fees, coupled with deliberately besmirching how easy it is to do it yourself, in order to put people off doing it for free, is reprehensible and we're delighted to see these ads won't be allowed to appear again.
Why the adverts have been banned – in more detail
The Turner Lewis ad we complained about was on social media platform TikTok, which is typically used by teens and young adults. In it, Turner Lewis claimed consumers had "nothing to lose" by using its services, but didn't mention that it would cost you 25% of any CTF found, capped at £350 plus VAT – so up to £420.
In addition, both this advert (see below for a copy) and a website landing page that led straight from it, failed to mention that CTFs can be reclaimed for free via HMRC. One MoneySaver we spoke to told us their 19-year-old son took up the services of Turner Lewis after seeing an advert on TikTok, unaware that he'd lose £333 of his £1,111 CTF. After MSE intervened, Turner Lewis agreed to waive its fees in this instance.
But after submitting our evidence to the ASA, it upheld our complaint, as well as raising two of its own further concerns. The ASA ruled that the ads:
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"Misleadingly omitted material information". This is because neither the ad nor the landing page it linked to included information about the fees payable or the option to trace a CTF for free via the HMRC website.
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"Deterred consumers from using the free HMRC tool to locate a CTF". The ASA said the age range of people eligible for a CTF (currently aged 22 and under) meant the ads took advantage of consumers' inexperience and credulity by suggesting that the process was more complicated than it was, and that engaging Turner Lewis offered advantages over the free route, when that was not the case.
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Failed to include "significant qualifications" that consumers "should have been made aware of upfront". Turner Lewis stipulated that it offered a 14-day cooling-off period and required a fee to cancel outside of this period. But the ASA found that in many cases, the firm located CTFs in fewer than 14-days – in some cases within 24 hours – meaning those who might have wished to cancel were unable to do so.
You can find and claim your Child Trust Fund for FREE via Gov.uk
As Martin explains in this video:
Martin: "This is an important warning for anybody aged under 22. You may have £2,000 in a Child Trust Fund that you don't know about, and you can get the money out for free.
"I've started to see adverts and videos on social media from firms trying to charge you to access your own money, or trying to get a cut of your savings to give you your money.
"Don't touch them, don't sniff them, don't smell them, don't go near them. This is easy to do yourself.
"I'm Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert.com and I'm going to talk you through how to do it right now.
"So first of all, the basics. If you're aged between 13 and 22, specifically 1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011, well, when you were born, you would have had a Child Trust Fund, which is effectively a tax-free savings or investment account.
"Now, your parents could put money in it, but everyone was also given a sum by the state to start it off. Normally £250, but in some cases £500. You can take the money out of your Child Trust Fund although in some cases, if you were active with it, you can convert it into what's called a Junior ISA too.
"You can take the money out of it and access the cash when you're aged 18, which many of you now are. And in fact, the stats show 670,000 people aged between 18 and 22 who have one of these have not touched the money, and many of them don't know about it. And the average amount in there? £2,212.
"So how do you trace and claim your Child Trust Fund? Well, first, if you know the firm, just contact them and it's easy. If you don't know the firm, there is a free tool on Gov.uk. So just go onto the government’s website, Gov.uk, and search 'Child Trust Fund'. All you will need is your National Insurance number and your date of birth – but I'm sure you know that – in order to be able to use the tracing service.
"It will reply within three weeks and then it'll tell you which bank, savings or investment provider your money is with, and then you are able to take your money out if you want.
"What you should actually do with it, if you don't need to use it straight away, lots of interesting choices there. You could put it in a top savings or investing account. You could put it inside a Cash ISA and move it into a Cash ISA. You could put it in a Lifetime ISA, which gives first-time buyers up to £1,000 a year boost on their savings as a deposit for their first home. Lots of ifs and buts on that; there's a full guide to that on MoneySavingExpert.com.
"So, why am I warning you about this? Well, I've been spurred to do it as we've started to see third-party claims firms, especially on TikTok, trying to get you to pay £350, or 25% of your savings value in order to access the money.
"But they are not doing anything that you can't do yourself. There is no, zero, zip, added value to using their services. And don't just take my word. HMRC, the Tax Office, is saying the same. It’s warned against it. It says there's no need to pay them. It can reduce what's received. Of course it can, they’re taking a 25% cut. And it may even make it take longer. Plus, you have to give them the same information that you'd put on Gov.uk.
"So if you see one of those ads or posts, ignore it. Don't sniff it, don't touch it, don't smell it, don't go near it. You don't need it. You can do it yourself. Watch back this video if you're not sure or more details on how to claim your Child Trust Fund for free on MoneySavingExpert.com. Spread the word, people."
Martin's Child Trust Fund warning – read the full video transcript
To summarise; if you were born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, you would have had a CTF set up on your behalf – effectively a tax-free savings or investment account that parents and guardians could put money into.
Crucially, everyone was also given a sum by the state to start it off. This was normally £250, but in some cases could be £500. The money was set to be accessible when the child turned 18 – giving young people some cash to start their adult life.
If you already know your CTF provider, you can contact it directly. If you don't know your provider, there is a FREE tool via Gov.uk to help you find it – there's absolutely no need to pay. You'll need to give your National Insurance number and date of birth as part of the process. Once you've submitted the online form, you should get a response from HMRC within three weeks telling you which provider has your cash.
See our Reclaim your Child Trust Fund guide for full details.
What does Turner Lewis say?
Turner Lewis failed to respond to our request for comment.
However, in its response to the ASA's investigation, Turner Lewis told the regulator that it thought prospective clients would understand from the outset that if funds were located, a fee would be charged. It added that it was "open and transparent" about its services through its ads, website, and terms and conditions.
1 July 2025
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