Standard Life annuity rates depend on your age, health and options; its guides give dated examples, and a personal quote sets your income.
The rates below are past examples from Standard Life’s own guides, each with its date and assumptions, not offers. Free guidance comes first: Pension Wise, from MoneyHelper, is impartial and backed by government. If you would rather talk your own pot through, the enquiry form here asks an FCA-authorised adviser to phone you, free of charge.
What Standard Life’s annuity is
The Standard Life Pension Annuity is bought with some or all of a pension pot and pays an income for life, its key features say. The document covers two routes, open market option and transfer; the transfer route is for money moving into its Immediate Vesting Personal Pension. For how annuities work in general, see the pension annuity explainer. Standard Life also sells a Fixed Term Guaranteed Income, for which its annuity page says “You need to speak to a financial adviser”; that product type is explained in fixed-term annuities.
Who can buy it, and how much it takes
The key features set out the eligibility rules. You must be a UK resident, at or above normal minimum pension age (55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028), unless you have a protected lower retirement age or are retiring on ill-health grounds through the open market option. The maximum age is 85 for open market cases and 74 for transfers. The minimum purchase price is £10,000 and the maximum £1,000,000, both counted after any tax-free cash and adviser charge; larger cases can be accepted with “additional checks”.
You need not use the whole pot: “You can buy them in stages to suit your needs.” Tax-free cash is normally up to 25% of the pot, within your lump sum allowance. The product cannot be used to fulfil safeguarded rights; if your pension carries a guarantee, see guaranteed annuity rates. Timing is covered in what age to buy an annuity.
What Standard Life annuity rates look like in its own examples
Income depends, the key features list, on the pot, whether you take tax-free cash, where you live, your age, marital status, health and lifestyle, the options and payment frequency chosen, any adviser charges or commission, and “annuity rates at the time of purchase”. The examples below show scale only, for the exact assumptions printed beside them.
| Past Standard Life example | Date and assumptions it prints |
|---|---|
| £100,000 at age 65, healthy: £7,519 a year; with a five-year guarantee period: £7,492 | “our rates as at 16th January 2025”, monthly in arrears, no escalation (customer guide SLPA10 1125) |
| £100,000 at age 65 with Type 2 diabetes: £7,706 a year | Same date and basis (SLPA10 1125) |
| Sasha, 67, £381,000 pot, income rising with inflation: £19,755 a year | “Figures calculated at September 2025”, monthly in advance, good health, average postcode, gross of tax, “only illustrative” (annuity web page) |
These are rates from January and September 2025, not current ones; a quote now will differ. Each provider also “views your health and lifestyle information differently”, the guide adds. For what moves rates, see whether annuity rates are rising; for what a pot might buy, annuity income.
Death benefits, increases and other extras
None of these is free: each “will reduce the amount of your income payments”.
- Dependant’s Income pays a spouse, civil partner or dependant after you die, set at the same amount as yours or lower. The glossary calls these plans “joint life annuities”. If your dependant dies first, no dependant’s income is payable. See joint life annuities.
- Guaranteed Period keeps payments going to a beneficiary if you die within the period, which can be up to 30 years; the longer the period, the lower the income.
- Value Protection pays a lump sum if you die before receiving a chosen share of the purchase price back, and cannot be combined with a Guaranteed Period or Dependant’s Income. Both are explained in guarantee periods and value protection.
- Increases can be a fixed percentage up to 10.0% a year, the Retail Prices Index (if the index falls, payments neither rise nor fall), or a Limited Prices Index capped at 5% a year. Starting income is lower for higher increases; see inflation-linked annuity rates.
Payments can be monthly, every three or six months, or yearly, in advance or arrears. Once the cancellation period ends, none of these choices can be changed, payments cannot be deferred and the annuity cannot be cashed in. Someone unsure which suit them could ask for a phone conversation using the form here, where an FCA-authorised adviser can weigh household, health and dependants; it costs nothing to send.
Enhanced rates for health conditions
Standard Life offers “standard annuity rates and enhanced annuity rates”, the latter covering lifestyle health risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes or smoking, as well as more serious conditions. A medical examination is not normally needed, though Standard Life may ask for a health questionnaire or doctor’s report. If a doctor cannot confirm what you declared, “your payments may be reduced to standard rates”. More in enhanced annuity rates.
Getting a quote, and comparing it
Standard Life’s annuity page offers existing customers a free phone service on 0345 266 1259 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; 10am to 5pm on Wednesdays), for people 55 or over, living in the UK, with a pot of at least £10,000. Its own description of that call is “We’ll search the whole market - not just Standard Life”.
The quote has a short life: the key features guarantee it for 14 calendar days if your details and options stay the same, and an application received in that time extends the guarantee by 30 calendar days to receive payment. A new quote is needed if payments rise or fall by more than 10% or personal details change.
The insurer’s help page answers “Do I have to buy an annuity from Standard Life?” with “No, you have the right to shop around and buy your annuity from any annuity provider as you may get a better rate.” GOV.UK agrees that you do not have to buy from your pension provider; buying elsewhere is the open market option. MoneyHelper’s compare annuities tool (page as archived on 4 August 2026) is free and says it does not contact you or share your details. It says to compare providers, “including your existing pension provider”, and to check what that provider offers, including any guaranteed annuity rate. Putting identical pot, age, health and options into each quote is the like-for-like test set out in comparing annuity quotes. The same exercise for another insurer is in Aviva’s pension annuity.
Costs, the cancellation window and what cannot be undone
Under the key features, “all our expenses for running your plan” are built into the income worked out, with “No additional costs” taken from it; any adviser charge or commission is counted in the calculation and shown on the quote. More in annuity fees; charges on Standard Life pension plans are a separate subject, in Standard Life pension charges.
The cancellation window is worded differently from one document to the next. The key features allow cancelling “at any time before your plan starts” or “up to 30 calendar days from the date you receive confirmation from us of your plan start date”; the help page says “The 30 day period starts from the date you receive the annuity terms and conditions”; the annuity page says the period “usually ends when you receive your first payment”. The dates printed on your own papers are the ones to go by. Cancelling after the start means returning “any income we’ve paid from this plan”. Tax-free cash already paid cannot be returned, and the rest of the pot must then buy a pension income within six months or it “will become subject to tax charges”. An adviser charge already paid “will not be refunded”.
After that: “Once you’ve bought your annuity from us, you can’t transfer the value to another company or cash it in.” Payments stop on death unless you chose otherwise, and total income can be less than the price paid if you die early. On insurer failure, see if the provider goes bust. Annuity income is taxed as earned income, without National Insurance, and the annuity page warns that taking pension money can reduce Universal Credit or Pension Credit. For the broader pros and cons, see is an annuity worth it.
Standard Life annuity questions people ask
Is there a Standard Life annuity calculator?
Its annuity page links a retirement tool headed “See how much you could get”. The figure that counts is the personal quote, which the key features say “shows the benefits you may get in the future”.
Where is the Standard Life pension annuity key features document?
It is at library.standardlife.co.uk/slpa17.pdf, print code SLPA17 0726. The customer guide, with its examples, is SLPA10 1125.
Does Standard Life recommend advice before buying?
Its annuity page says “We recommend you seek appropriate guidance or advice before you make any decisions”, and points to Pension Wise from age 50. What advice is free is in free annuity advice. Pot, health and family can be weighed together by an FCA-authorised adviser who rings after you send the enquiry form here; there is no charge.
Sources, read 20 October 2026: Standard Life, Key Features of the Standard Life Pension Annuity (SLPA17 0726); Standard Life, Introducing the Standard Life Pension Annuity (SLPA10 1125); Standard Life, Annuity and Retirement help pages; MoneyHelper, Compare annuities (archived 4 August 2026) and Pension Wise; GOV.UK, how you can take your personal pension.