Call handlers at the Prudential received spa breaks as prizes for selling annuities - but they were not treating some customers fairly. Sales-linked incentives were offered to staff and managers prior to 2013, but they may not have told customers they could shop around for a better deal. An annuity is a regular pension income bought only once, and for life. The Prudential has been fined nearly £24m for failures when selling them to people who did not receive advice. The company has apologised to those affected and says it is paying compensation, which could total £250m.Individuals save into a pension during their working life and so build up a pension pot. At some point during the first years of retirement, they might use the money that they have saved to buy an annuity from an insurance company. This is a transaction that occurs once, and only once. An annuity is an annual retirement income that is paid to them for the rest of their life.

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