The Aviva Family Finance report is carried out quarterly and looks at families' wealth, expenditure and savings.
In total, families had an average of £1,277 in their savings pot, up from £928 a year ago and also the highest level since January 2011.
The most popular form of savings account, after bank or building society accounts, was an Isa which was used by 35 per cent of people, followed by employer pensions which were used by 32 per cent.
The number of families who were not saving anything fell from 37 per cent in August 2012 to 34 per cent.
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People living in the capital has the most savings with an average of £4,537 and 73 per cent of families in London said they were making regular monthly contributions. In the North East, people only had £249 in savings and 39 per cent said they were not saving regularly.
However, debt increased with the average family now owing £11,101 in unsecured lending, up from £10,563 in August 2012 Monthly debt repayments fell from £141 to £123 but families were less concerned with their ability to pay off debts which suggested lower repayments were only a temporary measure.
The majority of fears were related to the increasing cost of basic necessities, threat of job losses and unplanned expenses.
Just 13 per cent of families were concerned about mortgage rates, thanks to announcements about the Funding for Lending scheme.

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