Getting the best annuity

knuckledragger

My friend wants to take her private pension from February next year. Currently her pension pot is with NU and she is in the process of obtaining a forecast from them. How can she be sure that she is getting the best deal from them? Are there comparison sites for purchasing annuities?

Baldur

knuckledragger wrote: »

Are there comparison sites for purchasing annuities?

See Moneyfacts, This is Money & Money Made Clear

jem16

knuckledragger wrote: »

My friend wants to take her private pension from February next year. Currently her pension pot is with NU and she is in the process of obtaining a forecast from them. How can she be sure that she is getting the best deal from them? Are there comparison sites for purchasing annuities?

Best see an IFA who can find her the best deal through the open market. The IFA will be paid through the commission so it's a no-brainer to use an IFA here.

dunstonh

IFA is the no brainer option here. NU pay a commission if you take the annuity with them. If you dont use an IFA they dont refund it. They either keep it or pay it to the original adviser or rep that set it up. If you do open market option, the commission is paid by the new provider to the IFA you use to set it up. So, there really is no point not checking the Open market option.

Also, if you are a smoker or have perscribed medication or have suffered a major illness in the past (or currently) then you can get enhanced rate/impaired health annuities. Most of the companies that offer these only transact through IFAs. There are also post code annuities now where you may get a better (or worse) rate down to postcode.

The quote sites on the internet or notoriously unreliable. The figures on there often make assumptions of a particular option and whilst annuity rates can change daily, the websites dont get updated anywhere near enough. Indeed, there is a major player that is still using August 07 figures to supply data. Another enhanced provider always gives their maximum likely figure rather than their standard (or average). The web is good for a guide but totally unreliable in this area.

EdInvestor

The FSA annuity comparison site is here which will give you some idea even if it is a week or so out of date:

https://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

dunstonh

EdInvestor wrote: »

The FSA annuity comparison site is here which will give you some idea even if it is a week or so out of date:

www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

a week or so? .... or over 52 weeks in some cases.

IFAs cannot use the FSA tables due to their unreliable data. So, consumers should only take it as a guide. I am doing an OMO at this moment (just waiting for a few manual quotes to be emailed and faxed) and so far none of the "real" quotes have matched the figures from the quote portals. So, far the company that was coming out third is top at the moment.

So, treat the FSA tables as a rough guide but certainly do not use it to go by when buying an annuity.

knuckledragger

Thanks for the advice guys. Now all I have to do is find her an IFA in her area!