Your child is eligible. What next?

The four steps below tell you how to open a Child Trust Fund (CTF) account for your child:

Claim Child Benefit

You must claim and be receiving Child Benefit for your child before you can open an account. Shortly after you start getting Child Benefit, you will automatically receive an information pack and a voucher for £250 for your child. You can only use this voucher to open a CTF account. 

Choose an account

The information pack will tell you about different types of accounts and what you should think about when choosing an account for your child. 

Choose a CTF provider

After you've chosen the type of account, you will need to decide on the provider. You'll find the most up to date list of them on this site.

Where to open an account

Open an account

Now you need to get in touch with your chosen provider to open an account. You will then become the registered contact. This means you will be the main point of contact and will look after the account until the child reaches the age of 16.

More information on the registered contact

What next?

You can change the type of account or where it's held if you think this might benefit your child. You will receive annual statements from the provider so you can see how the account is doing.

Introduction to managing an account

To help your child's account grow, you, your family and friends can add to the money already put in by the Government. This could be a gift or a small amount every so often - it all adds up to make a difference over the 18-year life of the account.

More about contributing to an account