What happens when your fixed rate ends (and what to do about it)

When a fixed term expires, your loan does not politely move to a competitive rate. It rolls onto the lender’s "revert rate", which is routinely 0.5% to 1.5% above what new customers pay. Do nothing and the bank quietly collects the difference every month. Here is the playbook, starting three months out.

Three months before expiry

Find your exact expiry date and revert rate (both are in your loan documents or app). Get your property’s rough value: if it has grown, your LVR band may have improved, which strengthens every option below. Then have a broker pull today’s market pricing for your loan size and LVR, so you know what "good" looks like.

Your four options

• Roll to variable at the same lender, after negotiating: ask the retention team to price you as a new customer. See the repricing playbook.
• Re-fix with the same lender, if certainty still suits you and their fixed pricing is competitive.
• Refinance to a new lender: the strongest lever if your current one will not move. Run the numbers with the switching calculator.
• Split: part fixed, part variable with an offset. Often the grown-up answer. See fixed vs variable.

Mind the repayment jump

If you fixed at a low rate, the new repayment can be hundreds a month higher. Rehearse it in advance: from today, pay the projected new amount and bank the difference in savings. You build a buffer and prove the budget before it is compulsory.