In response to the Chancellor’s Budget statement on annuities where George Osborne said, “no one will have to buy an annuity” and “those who still want the certainty of an annuity, as many will, will be able to shop around for the best deal,” Michael Ward, Managing Director of consumer comparison website www.PayingTooMuch.com which currently compares 13 annuity providers for consumers comments: “If an annuity does not get purchased at retirement, our worry is that even the most sensible person will be tempted to spend more of their pension cash than they planned. And as they will have no guaranteed income for life which an annuity does provide, we could see a generation relying on benefits after their pots have run dry.

“Secondly, whilst we really applaud his statement on shopping around for the best annuity, consumers must be given a proper choice, a restricted choice would still be detrimental. Today, the current practice of some intermediaries and websites is to offer quotes from only half the annuity providers, i.e. 6 or 7 rather than comparing 12 or 13 providers which presents a real choice.”