The report by first direct found that while the average ISA pot will reach over £10,000 by the end of the current tax year, more than £158bn of ISA savings, which could potentially find a home at a higher rate elsewhere, are sitting in existing accounts.

Savers said the main reason for staying put was they were happy with their current rate (48%), however a quarter said that they had ‘never got round’ to switching and nearly one in ten didn’t even know they were able to transfer their ISA balance.

Younger savers were most likely to never have transferred their ISA, with 93% of 16-24 year olds claiming that they’d never switched. At the other end of the spectrum it was the over 55s who had switched the most. However nearly 60% of that age group said they’d never moved provider either.

Men appear to be more financially informed than women when it comes to their cash ISA with almost twice as many women saying they didn’t know they could transfer their ISA to another provider.

Regionally, Londoners tended to have over 14% more in ISA savings than the UK average, just over £11,500, whereas the South West came bottom with an average balance of just over £9,100.

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When it comes to switching their ISA savings the Northern Irish are the most likely to make a move (53%), unlike those in the South West where 65% said they’d never transferred their ISA savings to another provider. While those in London may have the bigger balances, over 60% have never transferred their ISA savings.

Andy Forbes, head of product at first direct said: “It’s surprising that such a large number of cash ISA savers have never switched their account and even more so that many don’t realise they can transfer their balance.”