My child’s trust fund has decreased in value by over £2800 this year (from £1600 to £1400 and despite me paying an additional £800 in this year) and I’m paying a fee for the privilege of my child losing money in an apparent low risk account. We knew nothing of this until receiving a statement despite that they are meant to manage this money on my child’s behalf. This is money that relatives have paid in all year which has now been lost. Total disgrace to manage children’s money in this way and will be making a complaint. Transfer your child’s money out of this immediately even if to a very low interest account as this product is putting your child’s cash at serious risk.

IN ITS PAST YEAR A CTF RETURNED 2% GROWTH ,WHILST A JISA WITH 'ONE FAMILY' RETURNED 8.12% FOR A DIFFERENT CHILD, SAME PERIOD, RUNNING IN PARALLEL . PREVIOUS RETURNS FOR THE CHILDRENS MUTUAL CTF WERE 4% AND ANOTHER 2% ! A DEFINITE AVOID, SINCE THE CHILDRENS MUTUAL IS NOW RUN BY THE 'RORESTERS' WHO , HAVE CLEARLY MISSED THE TARGET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Received my son's statement and was shocked to learn that during last year the amount invested has been decreased by 7.3%. This is during times when economy is growing and you have easily 3-4% increase in other saving accounts. Will arrange a transfer within the next 2 days. Filed a complaint too.

In the last two years my son's modest £1,250 investment pot has fallen. I intend to see if I can't move this fund elsewhere as a loss for the second year running is ridiculous. CTF was previously the Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society (TWEFS) and the fund grew reasonably well with their management, but when the Child Trust Fund scheme was enacted, TWEFS changed their name to the Children's Mutual, which subsequently joined with Foresters Life in 2013 From that point onward it just started to lack the lustre of previous years. I am going to take advice from a reputable independent advice service to see if I can move the fund elsewhere.

Do not invest with this company. Do not believe their sales claims of a safe & secure investment. They are muppets who take no responsibility for the funds. Their performance over the last five years is less than can be achieved through any leading Building Society Bond. You have been warned.

Set up two savings plans for 13 and 16 years...the first is due to expire - we have had no bonuses for 5 years and will end up with just our money back if lucky. Heartbroken to think how hard I saved and they would have got more from a current account in any bank!

I have two long term child funds and am predicting a return of about 1% year on year at maturity. This is hopeless for an investment return. My own pension fund has gone up well over this for a similar period without any input. What is wrong with these people, why can't they at least match a reasonable bank saving account. Don't use them.

After investing £25.00 per month for the last 16 years into this fund for my eldest child, a recent review showed growth over that time of 2.7% This is woeful performance for any fund over the last 16 years. Do not invest your money here they are terrible.

Fantastic company!

I had written in to change my address, but this somehow got mixed up (clerical error).

The gentleman I spoke to (Greg his name was), was absolutely brilliant. He looked into my account, and rang ALL relevant departments, without the need to promise a "call back".

He manged to sort it so I could send a £2400 cheque to cover the 2 missed years payments, and this would then reflect the 3 years at £1200.

Not only did he do this - He called me a few weeks later to check how it had gone, and if I was satisfied.

A fantastic lad, for a fantastic company!!

I woul recommend this to anyone!

I thought I had set-up a direct debit for my grandson at £20 per month. It was acknowledged. This was done three weeks ago using The Children's Mutual Website. My daughter in law called this morning to say that she received a letter saying her direct debit was being increased by £20 per month. I called the company today but they were of no help whatsoever. It is clear to me that they have been incompetent and acted improperly. We have decided to give my grandson cheques instead.

I have a couple of policies with the childrens mutual.

One is a CTF and one is a GUB. These 2 products are both index linked, thus the value is going to decrease also. With the current financial climate, I think the childrens mutual have done outstandlingly well brining the account values back up.

The customer service is spot on, and always help the best they can. They have not made errors on my account, because unlike a lot of people, I make my writing clear, so errors can arise. I am on the understanding all application forms are scanned in not keyed in. This is due to the low 1.5% account charge each year. If they had to key they would need more admin staff, which would cause the charge to be higher.

Give them a break. They can't be that bad with 2 awards under their belt. Keep up the good work!

I imvested £1,000 in a baby bond 10 years ago for my daughter. Performance has been woeful. After 10 years the bond has just matured and I am receiving back £1007 - a return equivalent to 70p per year. If you have money to invest on behalf of your children - based on my experience I would not go with Childrens Mutual - I feel as I if I have been seriously conned.

childrens mutual got my daughters name wrong and are now refusing to transfer the fund to another provider, citing that the new account is in my husbands name and not mine-so much for being married, spoke to cust services and still no response-been at this for 5 months now-incredibly obstructive company-do not ever use these clowns

The Childrens Mutual lost my sons cheque/voucher and consequently it got allocated another Trust Fund provider.

Dreadful service and no attempt to resolve the complaint.

Do not use chidrens mutual. They promise you mothercare vouchers that never arrive and then never answer emails when you chase them up. I don't think they've heard of customer service. Do yourself and your kid a favour and invest the money elsewhere.

The introductory promises are good and they are quick to get back to you when you open first open the account. After that....good luck

Recommended by an IFA, I invested £25 a month for 10 years (£3000). Got back £2667 at maturity. Wont be doing it again!! Will be sticking my cash under the mattress in future.

Applied for trust fund for my daughter. completed paperwork and sent back along with trust fund voucher. Childrens Mutual sent me details of the trust fund they had set up, and I was not impressed that not only was my daughter's names spelt wrong, but so were mine, they called me Mrs X!!! If a company cannot cope with administration checks and spellings of their customers names, I am not trusting them with my bank account details OR my daughter's savings for her future! I cancelled the policy. Children's Mutual wrote back to me confirming cancellation and apologising for their error, but STILL spelt my name wrong and again put a completely incorrect surname!