If you suffer from a medical condition or have lifestyle choices that will impact your life expectancy then you could be eligible for an enhanced annuity. These types of annuity offer higher rates as the pension provider calculates that they will have to pay out income for a shorter period of time compared to if you were fit and healthy. To ascertain as to whether you are eligible for annuity enhancement, you must complete an enhanced annuity questionnaire.
This consists of a series of questions about your health and lifestyle such as how much you drink or smoke per week, your blood pressure, your cholesterol level, what exercise you take and any current or previous medical conditions. Sometimes you will be asked to provide evidence of past or current conditions via General Practitioners Report. The amount of questions you will have to answer relating to your health and lifestyle will often depend on how well your adviser probes you.
The level of enhancement you receive will depend on the extent to which your condition will upon impact life expectancy. Mild conditions or lifestyle choices could see your income increase by around 5%. More serious conditions such as heart attacks can result in an income increase of up to 40%. Thus, it is vital that you offer as much information to your adviser as possible.
