Mortgage rate expiry reminder texts for brokers

The Bank of England's Financial Stability Report of July 2026 projected that a little over 5 million households would see their mortgage payments rise by the end of 2028, up from nearly 4 million in its December 2025 report. Most of those rises are small. The typical owner-occupier coming off a fix in the next two years faces about £45 a month more, the Bank says. But it also picked out "nearly 750,000 households that are paying less than 3% interest" who roll off their fixed rates in 2026 and face an average rise of £170 a month. Those are the people a mortgage broker most wants to speak to before their lender's letter lands, and a mortgage rate expiry reminder text is a cheap way to get that conversation booked.

It's also a regulated communication. A broker's text sits under the FCA's mortgage conduct rules (MCOB), the Consumer Duty and, where it promotes the broker's services, the marketing rules in PECR. Between them they decide what can go in it, and the short answer is a date, your name and an invitation to talk, with rates and payment figures left for the conversation.

What the Bank of England projects

The figures come from chart 5.2 of the July report, which spreads owner-occupied mortgages by how much their monthly payment is projected to change between June 2026 and the end of 2028. The Bank assumes each fixed-rate borrower refinances onto a typical fixed rate implied by market interest rates at the point their deal ends.

Of the 5.18 million mortgages projected to cost more, 3.49 million rise by less than £100 a month, 1.47 million by £100 to £500, and 226,000 by more than £500. Another 2.51 million see no change and 1.27 million get cheaper. The Bank's reason for the jump since December is the conflict in the Middle East, which pushed up market rates: the average two-year fixed rate at 75% loan to value was 4.92% in July, 72 basis points above its level at the time of the December report.

Two caveats are in the Bank's own footnotes. The projection leaves out buy-to-let mortgages and loans that have been securitised or sold off lenders' balance sheets, so a broker with a lot of landlord clients is looking at a different picture. And it's a projection from the interest rate curve on one day (25 June 2026), so it moves with the market. The Bank also noted that most borrowers on two-year fixes ending by the end of 2028 are projected to remortgage "close to their existing rate". The people with the most to lose from a missed date are those on older, cheaper fixes.

The FCA rules a reminder text has to meet

MCOB 3A.1.1R applies the communications chapter of the mortgage sourcebook to a firm "communicating information to a customer in relation to a home finance transaction", as well as to financial promotions. So every text a broker sends about a client's mortgage is in scope, whether or not it counts as a promotion.

The baseline is MCOB 3A.2.1R: "When a firm communicates information to a customer, it must take reasonable steps to do so in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading." For a financial promotion of an MCD regulated mortgage contract (the Handbook's term for most first-charge residential mortgages), MCOB 3A.2.4R goes further: the promotion must be fair, clear and not misleading and must not "contain wording that may create false expectations for a consumer regarding the availability or the cost of a credit". A text promising that you'll "beat your lender's rate" or "keep your payments the same" is hard to square with that, because nobody can promise either before the client's circumstances have been looked at.

Then there's MCOB 3A.5.1R, which is the one that shapes the wording most. When a financial promotion for an MCD regulated mortgage contract "indicates an interest rate or any figures relating to the cost of the credit", it has to include standard information "in a clear, concise and prominent way": the lender or intermediary, the borrowing rate, the total amount of credit, the APRC (at least as prominent as any interest rate), the term, the instalments and the total payable, given by way of a representative example. That doesn't fit in 160 characters. The practical answer is to keep rates, "from 3.9%" lines and payment figures out of reminder texts altogether.

One more rule is easy to trip over. MCOB 3A.2.6R says any communication must describe an early repayment charge as an "early repayment charge" and "not use any other expression to describe such charges". So a text that warns a client about leaving early says "early repayment charge", in full, every time, and abbreviations like ERC are best left out too.

The Consumer Duty and timing

PRIN 2A.5 sets out the Consumer Duty's outcome on consumer understanding, and it applies to "all communications including verbal, visual or in writing", including electronic ones, before, during and after a sale. PRIN 2A.5.3R asks that communications "equip retail customers to make decisions that are effective, timely and properly informed". PRIN 2A.5.5R spells out what timely means: "in good time for retail customers to make effective decisions", including "at suitable points throughout the lifecycle of the product". A fixed rate's end date is about as clear a suitable point as a mortgage has.

PRIN 2A.5.6R adds a test of the channel itself. The firm "must satisfy itself" that the channel gets the relevant information across in a way that supports decisions and gives customers "an appropriate opportunity" to review it and assess their options. A text can't carry a mortgage comparison, and it shouldn't try. Its job is the date and the invitation; the options belong in the review meeting, the call or the suitability letter that follows.

How early? HM Treasury's Mortgage Charter, updated in December 2025, records that signatory lenders give customers approaching the end of a fixed rate "the chance to lock in a deal up to six months ahead", with rates finalised two weeks before the new term starts. Lenders also agreed to "provide well-timed information to help customers plan ahead". A broker's first reminder at around seven months before the end date lands before that window opens, which gives time for a review before the lender's own product transfer offer arrives.

Is a rate expiry text marketing?

Sometimes. The ICO's direct marketing guidance lists, among messages that may not be marketing, "advising customers in a factual way of the options available to them at the end of their contract without encouraging or promoting one option over another". A lender telling a borrower neutrally that their deal ends on a date fits that. A broker's text saying the deal ends and inviting the client to book a review with the broker promotes the broker's service, so treat it as marketing under PECR.

That's rarely a problem. The ICO's guidance on electronic mail marketing allows texts to "an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past", provided you gave them a simple way to opt out when you collected their details "and in every message you have sent". A client whose last mortgage you arranged is exactly that. Say at the end of the case that you'll text before the rate ends, keep "Reply STOP to opt out" on the reminders, and you're covered. Leads who enquired and never went ahead, bought-in lists and introductions from other firms are a different matter, and need consent. Our post on service text or marketing text has more of the grey areas, and the soft opt-in glossary entry has the short version.

Mortgage rate expiry reminder texts that stay in bounds

Written for a broker called Brierley Mortgages, with the client's end date merged in. None of them carries a rate, a payment figure or a product name.

About seven months before the fixed rate ends:

Brierley Mortgages: the fixed rate on your mortgage ends on 31 May 2027. It's a good time to review your options before then. Reply CALL and we'll ring to book a time. Reply STOP to opt out

A follow-up about five months out, for anyone who hasn't replied:

Brierley Mortgages: a reminder that your fixed rate ends on 31 May 2027. If you'd like a review, reply CALL and we'll be in touch. Reply STOP to opt out

For a client who has said they're thinking of moving or paying off a chunk early:

Brierley Mortgages: before you make any changes to your mortgage, check your offer for an early repayment charge, which may apply until 31 May 2027. We can go through it on a call. Reply STOP to opt out

And once a new deal is in place (a service message, so no opt-out line needed):

Brierley Mortgages: your lender has confirmed your new deal starts on 1 June 2027. They'll write to you with your new monthly payment. Any questions, just reply here.

The broker's name comes first, because a text about a mortgage from a name the client doesn't recognise looks like fraud. The text says nothing about the size of the loan, the lender or the property, which keeps it harmless if someone else picks up the phone. And the ask is a one-word reply, which gives the broker a clear list of who wants a review.

Running it without missing a date

The end dates already sit in the broker's CRM or case file, so the reminders can be set when the case completes. In CaptiFi Connect, a text can be scheduled up to a year ahead, and the API takes a schedule_at time on POST /messages, so a back office can queue each client's first reminder as soon as the end date is within a year (for a five-year fix, that's a job for the CRM to pick up later). Credits come back if a scheduled text is cancelled, which matters when a client remortgages elsewhere or sells. Replies land in a shared two-way inbox, and a STOP reply suppresses the number for every later send, including anything already scheduled. Every text has a delivery report, a record worth keeping with the case notes of when and how the client was told.

If arrears come into the picture, the rules change; our post on debt collection texts and the FCA rules covers what CONC expects.

Common questions

Can a mortgage broker text clients when their fixed rate is ending?

Yes, as long as the text is fair, clear and not misleading under MCOB 3A.2.1R and the broker has a lawful basis to send it. Texts to past clients whose mortgage you arranged usually rely on the soft opt-in under PECR, with an opt-out in every message. Prospects who never became clients need to have consented.

Can I put a mortgage rate in a text message?

You can, but MCOB 3A.5.1R then requires standard information for an MCD regulated mortgage contract, including the APRC and a representative example, set out clearly and prominently. That rarely fits in a text, so most brokers leave rates out and give figures in the review.

How far ahead should a remortgage reminder go out?

Under the Mortgage Charter, signatory lenders let customers lock in a new deal up to six months before their fixed rate ends. A first reminder at about seven months gives time to book a review before that window opens, with a follow-up a couple of months later.

Is a fixed rate ending text a marketing message?

The ICO says a factual message about end of contract options that doesn't favour one option can be a service message. A broker's text that invites the client to book a review promotes the broker's service, so treat it as marketing and include a way to opt out.