Just Retirement attacks 'crude' postcode rated annuities

Just Retirement welcomes the attention the scheme, launched last month, brings to customers’ personal circumstances but says it is similar “to using only postcodes to assess motor insurance premiums, without taking into account whether the customer was driving a Ferrari or a Mini”. Providers traditionally use age and sex to assess life expectancy for conventional non-profit pension annuities but research from the Office of National Statistics suggests a customer’s residence could influence how long they live. Peter Ellis, head of annuities at Just Retirement, says: “The rate uplifts that...