When the time comes to buying an annuity, which pension annuity has the best pension annuity rates for your circumstances? It is important to remember that this is a once in a life time financial decision. Once purchased, your pension annuity cannot be transferred or exchanged and will be with you for the remainder of your life. With this in mind, the annuity which you eventually buy will impact heavily on your future financial well being and it is important that that you choose your annuity very carefully.

A pension annuity is a contract with an insurer which will provide you with an income for the rest of your life in exchange for the value of your pension fund. It is usually best not to buy an annuity from your existing pension provider without first making sure that they are offering you the very best annuity rates available. Buying an annuity directly from your pension company could result in you losing out to the tune of thousands of pounds over your lifetime and it is usually possibe to receive a larger annuity income from a different provider. Always check the annuity rates from a variety of annuity providers before committing yourself.

If you suffer from certain medical conditions you could qualify for an enhanced annuity rate of up to 30%, and possibly more if you’re seriously ill. This would represent the best pension annuity rates for you. If you are a regular smoker, have been hospitalised for a serious condition, have a current medical condition or are currently taking prescribed medication you could be eligible to an increased annuity rate. You do not have to have a serious medical condition to qualify for enhanced annuity rates.

Use our annuity calculator to get best UK annuity rates. Your quick quote will provide a good indication of the income you can expect for a single life with no annuity options on standard annuity rates, asssuming you’re in good health. If you require annuity options such as joint quotes, guarantees, increasing income or perhaps you have health issues that may improve your quote further, then we can get you more. There are five important points about your annuity quote. First, it is based on standard annuity rates, and doesn’t take into account your state of health. You could get up to 30% more income if you suffer from ill health, if you smoke regularly, if you drink alcohol regularly, if you’re overweight, or in respect of your previous occupation.

To see some examples of the higher levels of you could qualify for, take a look at the enhanced annuity rates page if you have ill health, or the smoker annuity rates page if you’re a regular smoker, and have been for the last ten years. The income shown in your annuity quote is for a single life only, on a level payment basis, with no guarantee period. You might wish to consider certain options such as an escalating income to help combat inflation, or a joint life annuity if you have a spouse or partner to look after financially after you’ve gone. Neither this annuity rates calculator nor any other annuity quote engine that’s out there can provide accurate annuity quotes taking into account your health or lifestyle because of the 100′s of different issues involved; i.e. there are over 1,500 medical conditions to take into account. Therefore, the best way to get an accurate annuity quote tailored to your specific needs, is to contact us and discuss your circumstances with one of our team of advisers. You can call us free on 0800 077 3510.

The Treasury wants the open market option for best pension annuity rates in the UK, and has issued an ultimatum to insurers. The new coalition government has issued an ultimatum to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) over its opposition to the utilisation of the open market option, according to information from Professional Pensions. Apparently, a well placed source claimed government officials had informed the ABI, whose overall membership includes a large number of annuity providers, to provide them with compelling evidence as to why the open market option shouldn’t become the default option for pension savers at retirement.

Hargreaves Lansdown’s Tom McPhail, the current chairman of the Pension Income Choice Association (PICA), said the Treasury had actually been very receptive to the organisation’s ideas on the open market option. He commented that although clearly nothing’s set in stone, the tone of the communication he’d heard from within the ABI suggests that all the relevant government ministers and Treasury officials have bought their argument that the open market option should be made the default option. He added that he he expects the ABI to attempt to pursue the status quo if it can.

An ABI spokesman stated that the ABI and its members are committed to making the process of shopping around using the open market option for the best pension annuity rates as straightforward as possible, adding that the ABI continues to work with its’ members, government and other organisations to help consumers understand the decisions they need to make when they reach retirement about their pension savings, and to improve the customer experience when having to make those those decisions.

Make sure you use our annuity calculator to get a free annuity quote. You’ll get your annuity quote on-screen straight away to give you an idea of how much extra income you might get in retirement. We might be able to get you even more than the figure shown, so call us today to find out exactly how much more you could get. To give you a bit of important information about your annuity quote; the quote will be based on standard annuity rates, and is rated on your age, your sex, size of pension fund, and your postcode, with the income shown being for a single life, on a level annual payment basis, with no guarantee period.

However, you could get up to 30% more income than the figure the annuity calculator shows if you suffer from ill health; possibly even more if you’re seriously ill. You could also get more income if you smoke or drink alcohol regularly, if you’re overweight, or in respect of your previous occupation. No online annuity quote engine can provide accurate annuity quotes for those people with ill health or with certain lifestyle issues because of the hundreds of different variables involved; i.e. the various medical conditions that exist, how much that person smokes or drinks, or how overweight or obese they might be. Therefore, to get an accurate quote, contact us and discuss your circumstances with one of our specialist advisers. You can call us free on 0800 077 3510.

Why should you use this online annuity quotes annuity calculator, aside from the important fact that we can get you higher annuity rates. It’s quite possible that you could increase your retirement income by perhaps 30% to 40% depending on the state of your health and your lifestyle. To give you peace of mind and to ensure you receive expert, unbiased advice you can rely on we’ve teamed up with AEGON Direct to offer you this service. AEGON Direct are part of the AEGON Group, one of the world’s largest insurers. In some eyes that’s good enough reason to use this online annuity quotes service.

However, I’m going to provide you with five good reasons as to why you might want to use this service, First, we can offer you some of the best annuity rates available from leading UK annuity providers. Secondly, we’ve got an easy to use annuity calculator with instant up to date online annuity quotes. Our service is free, with free quotes, no obligation, and there are no fees to be paid to us. We’ve a dedicated team of experienced and qualified advisers at AEGON Direct just waiting for your call, and the advice you receive is backed by a major financial institution.

So, don’t miss out on thousands of pounds of vital retirement income. If you suffer from health, smoke or drink, if you’re overweight, and also if your occupation is of a more hazardous nature you could qualify for more income. However, to get the best deal it’s important you tell us as much as you can about your situation that might effect the rates you’re offered. Use our online annuity calculator in the first instance – see how much extra income you could get. Then bear in mind you could get more if you’re in poor health, or because of your lifestyle.