Complacency can cost thousands

first direct's chief executive, Alan Hughes, said: "Nobody thinks twice about reviewing their car or house insurance on an annual basis, and yet homeowners are becoming more and more complacent about whether their mortgage still offers the same value for money now as it did 12 months ago.”

The lender is encouraging all mortgage borrowers to reassess their mortgage requirements to see if they can save money by moving their mortgage elsewhere. Reduced rate mortgage deals remain popular, with fixed rate mortgages or discounted mortgages accounting for over 42% of all mortgages, according to the lender. But it is these types of mortgages that can prove costly to the unsuspecting borrower if they forget to switch at the end of the reduced rate period.