Many UK homeowners will be shocked at the rate of their next mortgage as £30 billion worth of cheap fixed rate mortgages end this month.

The poll, by moneysupermarket.com, revealed one in six have found a new deal but that monthly payments will be so much higher they fear they will struggle with repayments. A further 18% have struggled to find a new deal they can afford or will be eligible for.

Thanks to a glut of cheap fixed rates two summers ago, many people have been enjoying very low rates – rates that cannot be duplicated during this difficult financial period.

The website also found that over half of all homeowners whose mortgages end soon haven't even started looking for a new deal.

Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Many homeowners will be plunged into a borrowing underclass in July when their fixed rate deal comes to an end. Banks are cherry picking customers, leaving many people unable to find affordable deals to service mortgages taken out in better times, when they were plentiful and easy to get hold of.”

The website recommends using a broker as a way to navigate the UK mortgage minefield.

Cuming adds: "Burying your head in the sand isn't going to help. Anyone whose fixed rate deal is coming to an end should start planning at least three months before the product is due to finish.”

And if you do find the perfect mortgage there are still trials to overcome – bills, fees and most importantly, insurance. And according to Gocompare.com, people are missing out on the most competitive insurance deals as more lenders pressure mortgage borrowers to take their own insurance policy.

Their survey revealed one in eight mortgage holders said that they felt under pressure or believed that buying the insurance was compulsory. Only a fifth said they bought the cover because they thought it was value for money.

Hayley Parsons, chief executive of Gocompare.com says: "We know that mortgage deals have been harder to secure of late but we really don't want to go back to the bad old days when customers were often under pressure to buy the lender's products to help secure the loan.

"Mortgage lenders will generally provide insurance from one company, so it's unlikely that theirs will be the most competitive policy. Homeowners should shop around for both their building and contents insurance."

Of course all the worrying stories coming out of the mortgage market could all be lies, if some people are to be believed – Zurich asked members of the public about the credit crunch and the problems the UK housing market is facing and a fifth of people thought the credit crunch was just something created by the media.

Worryingly, more than a third of people asked didn't believe that the credit crunch would affect them, in spite of all the talk of the housing market downturn, the difficulties of obtaining credit and the rising cost of living.

Tony Solomon, business development director at Zurich UK Life, says: "It is worrying to find that less than a third of people have reviewed their finances in light of the credit crunch.

“With the credit crunch bringing spiralling living costs, from fuel to food to interest rates, families are seeing their budgets stretched to the limit. It is crucial for people to do something positive such as seeking advice and reviewing their finances to ensure their money is working as hard as possible to meet their future needs.”

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