When dentists Nick and Polly Patsias turned 60 within a month of each other last summer, it wasn't only birthday cards that came tumbling through their letterbox - they also received letters from numerous insurance companies inviting them to turn their savings into a lifetime income through an annuity.
As owners of a thriving dental practice in Beckenham, Kent, the couple had no intention of retiring so they ignored the correspondence.
But one of the companies they had saved with - Abbey Life - took it upon itself to buy an annuity for them.
Abbey Life turned a pension of £57,000 in Polly's name into an annual income - payable once a year in arrears - of just over £3,300 without offering her tax-free cash or any financial protection.
