engage press releases

20th January 2006


Brangelina baby joy - but would they claim their free CTF money?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly expecting a baby together and if their bundle of joy is born in the UK and they claim child benefit, he or she would be eligible for £250 of government money in the form of a voucher to invest in a Child Trust Fund account.

The mystery is increasing around the Child Trust Fund as the Inland Revenue starts to automatically allocate vouchers that haven’t been claimed within a year of issue to registered providers. These organisations are eager to find out why these families haven’t claimed their free money.

The minimum £250 voucher - whilst a drop in the ocean for Brad and Angelina - is equivalent to 20% of an average couple’s monthly disposable income, or a one month income tax holiday1 . This is a significant sum for an average family with a new addition to provide for.

What’s more, a UK-wide poll asking people what would drive people to start savings revealed that ‘tax efficient investment vehicles’ (48%) were seen to be a more important trigger than a rise in interest rates (30%) or an upturn in the stockmarket (28%)2 . Parents can invest £1200 in the tax-exempt Child Trust Fund, which indicates that the scheme itself is ticking the right boxes. There may still be confusion however in communicating the key messages to those eligible.

Karl Elliott from engage explains “Our key aim with revenue allocated accounts is to ensure that these customers know exactly what it is they’ve got. There are different types of account, so we have to make families aware of the risks and rewards as well as the importance of saving for children. We support the government’s CTF advertising campaign - but think it should now go one step further by putting saving for children at the top of the national agenda, with a heavyweight campaign to match the drink drive or no smoking advertising.

engage is working hard to encourage regular saving into CTF accounts, with 50%3 of its customers making regular contributions compared with a survey average of 26%4. engage believes higher levels of saving should be encouraged now, so today’s ‘buy now pay later’ generation can help prevent their children from falling into the same habits.

-ENDS-

CASE STUDIES – Please call for names and contact details

  • REVENUE ALLOCATED
    Oldham family, daughter age 2, revenue allocated account, no additional contributions.
  • LOW MONTHLY, MULTIPLE CHILDREN
    Glasgow family, triplet girls age 2, monthly contributions of £5
  • ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY
    Liverpool family, account opened at start of CTF
  • DEBENHAMS
    Debenhams customer, Midlands family, son age 3

  • NAAFI FINANCIAL
    NAAFI Financial customer, Worksop family, son age 2
  • MAX CONTRIBUTOR
    Midlands family, daughter age 1, lump sums and regular savings

 Zoe Bowett
PR Manager

01423 855 315
07957 434 504

zoe.bowett@engagemutual.com

NOTES TO EDITOR
  1. Calculations for average monthly take home pay from ONS are as follows:
    Average annual salary £22,100
    Monthly gross pay £1,841
    Monthly tax deducted £294
    Monthly NI deducted £157
    Monthly net pay £1,389
  2. YouGov 2005
  3. engage Mutual Assurance MIS
  4. BDRC Syndicated Survey Wave 6 Jan – Jun 2005. Objectives: to establish parental awareness of the CTF, patterns of registration behaviour, savings intentions, account opening intentions and use of CTF funds.
  5. engage Mutual Assurance is a trading style of Homeowners Friendly Society (HFSL) and it’s wholly-owned subsidiary Engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL).
  6. The organisation is also the primary sponsor of the Rugby Super League – now renamed engage Super League.
  7. engage Mutual Assurance is also headline sponsor of the engage International Open 2005, part of the World Bowls Tour.
  8. Established in 1980, Homeowners Friendly Society Limited (HFSL) is Registered and Incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, Reg.No.964F, it’s wholly owned subsidiary Homeowners Investment Fund Managers Limited (HIFML) is Registered in England No 3224780. Both are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Homeowners Friendly Society Limited's FSA Register number is 110072, and Homeowners Investment Fund Managers Limited's FSA Register number is 181487. You can check this on the FSA's Register by visiting the FSA's website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234
  9. Homeowners Investment Fund Managers Limited is a provider of the Child Trust Fund.


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