JUST under a third of adults saved or invested in an ISA in the current tax year.

And of those, more than a fifth have saved or invested £1,000 or less with just a few weeks to go until the end of the tax year, according to new research carried out on behalf of AXA.

Last year, the Government increased tax efficient ISA limits to £15,000, intending to kick-start a savings culture. However, this new AXA study reveals alarming levels of disengagement towards saving money and misunderstanding of the basics about ISAs: Seventy four per cent of adults don’t know what the ISA limit (£15,000) is – including 54 per cent of those who have saved or invested money in an ISA.

Over a quarter of people (26 per cent) who have saved or invested in the current tax year through an ISA do not know in which month the tax year ends (April).

On average, those people who have saved or invested through an ISA have only used 38 per cent of their tax-free allowance with just a few weeks to go until the end of tax year (£5,645 of the available £15,000 limit).

Twenty two per cent of savers have £1,000 or less in their ISA.

Only 33 per cent are aware you can invest in Stocks and Shares into an ISA.

Outside of London (£7,297), people in the north of England and Scotland have, on average, the most money in their ISA, totaling £6,037 and £6,065 respectively; whereas those in the Midlands (£4,595) have the least.

People in the East of England are those most likely to have £1,000 or less in their ISA (27 per cent). The majority of savers are nowhere near using their ISA allowance for the year.

Adrian Lowcock, head of investing, at AXA Wealth, which is headquartered in Basingstoke, said: “Households across the UK could be paying billions in needless tax, because they are not using their full ISA limit.

“While interest rates for savers are so poor, no one needs to lose this money.

“January is typically a time for families to kick-start their financial planning and put in place those new financial resolutions, so I’d encourage people to consider the options that ISAs offer, investing in both cash and stocks and shares and maximising the use of the limits to help them make their money go as far as possible.”

To learn more about ISAs visit axaselfinvestor.co.uk/isas-and-more/