Certified Actuarial Analyst

I'm still not sure what rip off rates you are referring to - perhaps you could name a company and the rate offered and then we'll be able to analyse this according to current annuity tables.

However, just because someone's rates may be cheaper - does that mean it's better? If the company has used an optimistic basis to price their product then surely they're likely to come unstuck later. Differences could also be simply due to their pooled risk - so if they have a healthier group then their rates will be better...

For example, the last government took the optimistic assumptions from the GAD to say there was no pensions crisis. 10 years later the crisis that was always there is now bigger. Was the problem better?