The open market option to find best UK pension annuity rates is more popular these days. Pension annuity products vary widely from one provider to another, retirees have been warned, and they owe themselves a duty of care to shop around as they approach retirement to try and find the best annuity rates for their circumstances and therefore a potentially higher retirement income. Laith Khalaf, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that retirees really should shop around for the best deal to maximise their retirement incomes.
All annuitants have what is known as the so-called “open market option”, which allows them to take out an pension annuity with a firm other than their pension fund provider. Analysis produced from Hargreaves Lansdown suggests that retirement incomes can be boosted by 20-30% in this way. Many retirees who fail to utilise this option face a lower income. However, there is a lot more awareness of the open market option these days where people are shopping around their annuity. Take-up rates are still not as high as they could be, they should be higher.