If your current mortgage deal is coming to an end, three months is the crucial moment; that’s the time to act. If that date's already passed, you need to get your skates on and act NOW!

Over the years interest rates have climbed substantially, and if you've been on a fixed rate deal during this time you'd have been shielded from the rises. Yet, it's important to realise you'll soon face the full force of the increased costs when the cheap rate is up.

It's most likey you'll slip onto your lender’s much higher standard variable rate. This will end up costing £150 more a month per £100,000 of outstanding mortgage.

Yet remortgaging (switching to a new deal) should save a huge chunk of this price rise. Never just go straight to your bank and building society though; it’ll try and flog you a mortgage from its own limited range. Instead you want to search across the market.

Quick Steps to Sorting Your Mortgage

Step 1: Analyse your finances. Work out what money you have and what repayments you can afford. Use the free Budget Planner

Step 2: Knowledge is power. The most important thing to do is understand how mortgages work. It’s one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make, possibly worth £100,000s. So half an hour's reading isn’t bad. Martin’s step-by-step 30 page Remortgage and Mortgage guides will take you through the whole process.

Step 3: Benchmark the top price via the web. The internet is a mine of information including best buy comparisons. See Martin’s Free Mortgage Info article.

Step 4: Go to a whole of market broker. Now you’re armed with the info, get a ‘whole of market’ broker to do the work for you as their job is to find the best deals. Read Martin’s Free Mortgage Brokers article for details

Read further info on how to get the cheapest: Home Insurance, Mortgage Life Assurance & Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance

The studio challenge

We invited two households into our studio to find out how much they could save by using a broker to switch mortgage before their monthly payments shoot up.

One household used London & Country and the other, Charcol Direct. Between them, they'll slash over £1,500 off their annual bills by switching rather than failing to act.

Remember, mortgage is French for death grip; don't let it take hold of you.

Read Martin's Remortgage guide to slash the cost of your home loan.