You may already have visited other annuity sites and used an annuity rates calculator or consulted an annuity rate table. Have you been misled?

• Were you sure that the information about the range of annuities was in date?

• Did the annuity table or calculator take into account all of the products on the market or was it just a selection?

• Did you know that specialist independent annuity brokers may have access to a wider range of retirement annuity possibilities?

• Was it an individual annuity quote or just an illustration?

• Did the website promote particular annuity providers over others as they were paid higher commissions by some companies?

• Are the annuity providers able to pay to list their products higher up the tables, or maybe have their products shown in a different way?

• Did you know that the annuity rates may change before your application actually goes through? If you received a quote, was it guaranteed?

Updated by machines or humans?

Did those sites use 'screen-scraping' technology that retrieves and transfers information from other programmes?

According to Wikipedia, "Screen scraping is generally considered an ad-hoc, inelegant technique, often used only as a "last resort" when no other mechanism is available. Aside from the higher programming and processing overhead, output displays intended for human consumption often change structure frequently. Humans can cope with this easily, but computer programs will often crash or produce incorrect results."

But what if the site reassures you it is up to date?

Even if the annuity comparison table or calculator was 100% up to date and correct, were you aware that the stated rates may have no resemblance whatsoever to the income that you will actually achieve? This is because your annuity may increase due to circumstances as yet unknown to the site, i.e. your state of health, medication that you may be taking and whether you're a smoker or not. Some annuity providers even base your future income on your previous occupation or where you live.

Again, let us say that you do eventually find a site where everything is up to date and works correctly; do you know at this stage whether you want a level annuity, fixed-rate escalating annuity or an rpi-linked escalating annuity? Also, have you considered your spouse's, partner's or dependant's percentage on your demise? Have you considered an unsecured pension, variable annuity or purchased life annuity? There are a bewildering array of choices.

What does the FSA say about comparison sites?

Comparison sites have been heavily criticised in the media and by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for their lack of independence and incomplete information. Consumers often do not realise that they are not getting the whole picture.

The FSA say "Some may only include products that the website can make money from in some way, for example if you click through to the provider." They also state that you should never buy a product just on the basis of what you see on their own tables. They recommend getting advice before using their tables.

(Please note that the information about annuities on this page does not represent financial advice. You must consult an annuity broker for complete information. "The argument against annuity rate tables and calculators" is an opinion only and you should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions about buying an annuity.)

One-to-one non automated annuity comparison sites can be found at Annuities Central UK.

Annuities Central http://www.annuitiescentral.co.uk/