The statistics show that 62 per cent of Britons have more than £1,000 and 51 per cent more than £3,000 in savings accounts. In both cases 60 per cent of the savings were made by men and 40 per cent by women.

Another issue highlighted by the study is however that more than a third of the people with more than £1,000 savings are giving more money away to the tax man than he ought to have: 37 per cent did not put their savings into a tax-free ISA.

“We were shocked to see that such a high proportion of savers don’t have an ISA account.” Chris Edwards, Head of Mortgage & Savings Development at Yorkshire Building Society, says.

He recommends: “Anyone with any amount of savings should grab an ISA as soon as possible to make sure they get the most benefit of the tax free allowance.”

As the end of the tax year on 5th April 2008 draws near, consumers have still a few days left to make the most of this year’s tax-free allowance. Individuals can pay £3,000 into an ISA without paying taxes on the interest earned. From the next tax year this savings limit will increase to £3,600.

Yorkshire Building Society is one of the providers who offer a very competitive rate on ISAs. The Fixed-Rate Anniversary ISA will pay 6 per cent gross and allows customers to transfer savings from other ISAs into the account even if they are from other providers.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd