Making sure you can repay your mortgage loan is one of the most basic financial needs

Christine Farnish FSA

About 50% of those asked said they had other ways of paying off their mortgage, hence their lack of action, but many others have still to act on the advice.

Of the 24% of people who have taken specific action, the most common approach has been to switch to a different type of mortgage or to increase their endowment premiums.

"Making sure you can repay your mortgage loan is one of the most basic financial needs," said Christine Farnish, director of consumer relations at the FSA.

"If there is a risk that you will not be able to, and you are not comfortable with that, then now is the time to decide what to do. If you need to put more money aside to pay off your mortgage, it is a lot less painful to do it sooner rather than later.

"We are publishing a new FSA fact sheet that gives useful tips on all the options for people with endowment mortgages, including how to decide if you need to make a complaint."

'Shortfall likely'

Throughout the UK, about 10.5m letters have been sent out by endowment providers to an estimated quarter of all households.

The most recent figures show 45% of letters warn that a shortfall is possible or likely.

The FSA survey found that nationally, 71% of people understood that the situation might change and that their policy could do better or worse depending on investment performance but a quarter did not know this.

The factsheet is available from the FSA Consumer Helpline on 0845 6061234 or on the website at www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer.

It contains a simple decision tree to advise people on what action is appropriate. There is also information on the advantages and disadvantages of all the options and important questions people should ask before making a decision.