Perhaps better put: do you, or have you in the past, suffered from ill health? If the answer is ‘yes’ there is every chance you will qualify for a higher annuity income. Increased annuity rates will apply and these could be anything from 10% to, well, who knows. If you are really ill the increase you receive could be very substantial.

The type of annuity you will be eligible for will be an enhanced annuity or an impaired life annuity, and you will need to put in a little more effort to get one. Be prepared to provide details of your condition, and any medication you are on, i.e. more paperwork. It is worth it, perhaps a few hundred pounds or a few thousand pounds more per year in your retirement ‘pay packet’.

Not enough people end up with these types of annuities, even though they are eligible. Make sure you don’t lose out.

Just Retirement sees a 12.8 per cent increase in pension annuity sales to £763.5m. Just Retirement are a specialist enhanced annuity and impaired life annuity provider in the UK. The group also reported a 5.2 per cent year-on-year drop in sales last quarter to £191.8m.

As well as pension annuities business, they also reported that over the full year equity release advances were up 27 per cent from £125.2m to £159m, but over the last quarter they were down 8.7 per cent year-on-year from £52.6m to £48m.

Sales of annuity policies were up 9.6 per cent over the full year to £604.5m, but down 4 per cent last quarter to £143.8m. Just Retirement estimates it has increased market share in the annuities market to 5.5 per cent and in the equity release sector to 14 per cent.

The company, and those behind this website, believe the FSA’s call for the fair treatment of annuity customers is likely to boost demand for enhanced annuities and while the pressure that the regulator is putting on providers to meet the Open Market Option rules and encourage customers to shop around will be beneficial to Just Retirement.

Chief executive Mike Fuller says: “I am pleased to announce that the company has reported another full year of strong sales growth delivered against a backdrop of challenging market conditions. Critically, we have increased our annual shares of the annuity and equity release markets through our product, technology, service and funding advantages.”