Annuities

The industry has welcomed the government's proposal to allow consumers to sell on their existing annuities but has clashed over whether advice should be mandatory for those wanting to sell.

New pensions minister Ros Altmann has said she is hopeful existing annuitants will get the opportunity to sell their right to an income for a lump sum.

The advantages of defined benefit (DB) pensions appear lost on some final salary savers who are frustrated by a government rule mandating they seek regulated advice before transferring out, research suggests.

Only 1% of savers have opted to cash in their pensions completely since the retirement 'freedom and choice' reforms took effect last month, according to the country's biggest retirement adviser.

Annuities have become the new focus for complaints according to figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), a year after the product was publicly abandoned by the Chancellor.

... clients will call you about this week

Insurer Zurich is to pass its £1.2bn legacy annuities business covering 28,000 clients to specialist Rothesay Life.

Annuity specialist Just Retirement has reported sales are down by a fifth since the 2014 Budget that removed the need for people to buy its main product.

'Retirement ready' clients need long-term advice

A retiree's complaint against Friends Life over its failure to pay his annuities on time for a decade has been rejected by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), despite FOS and Friends admitting the delays are poor customer service.