How do Child Trust Fund backdated payments work?

Backdated vouchers will have a higher value as there is less time for the money in the account to grow before the fund matures when your child turns 18. The value of the vouchers will vary depending on when your child was born. If he/she was born between September 2002 and April 2003, they will get £277 or £553. Children born between April 2003 and April 2004 get £268 or £536 and those born between April 2004 and April 2005 get £256 or £512. (Note the higher amount will be paid to children who live in families receiving Child Tax Credit (CTC), where household income is not greater than the CTC threshold of £15,575 for 2008/09).

All CTF vouchers are issued with an expiry date. If you have not used your voucher within a year, you may find that a CTF account has been opened for your child by the Inland Revenue. This is called a stakeholder account and is opened to ensure that no child misses out on a CTF. You can take over control of the account from the Inland Revenue at any time.

To find out more about backdated payments, you can call the CTF helpline on 0845 302 1470 or visit www.childtrustfund.gov.uk. The helpline and website will give you all the information you need to know about opening a CTF account, how to claim your voucher, and how a CTF account works.