The research, which found that 37% of consumers had no concept of annuity products, comes from the find-an-adviser search option on the Unbiased website which asks consumers questions regarding financial services.

The research comes only a fortnight after the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI’s) ‘annuity window’ was launched to highlight the importance of consumers shopping around for the best annuity deal.

Unbiased chief executive Karen Barrett (pictured) said: “There is no doubt that shopping around for the best annuity deal is one of the most important financial decisions someone will make in their lifetime.

“But as our research shows – if almost two in five consumers do not know what an annuity is, how can we expect them to be able to confidently make the best choice on the different options available?”

She added: “Just like most of us would pay a professional to deal with the legal side of a house purchase, we would expect a large proportion of consumers to be best served by enlisting the help of a professional adviser when it comes to their annuity choice.

“We believe that tools help people engage with the annuity process and offer guidance on what to expect but do not replace the value a financial adviser can add.”

Unbiased, which lists more than 24,000 professional advisers on its search, holds details of about 8,500 advisery businesses specialising on retirement in general and 4,500 who list annuities specifically.

Unbiased’s data shows that retirement planning has consistently been the biggest driver for people seeking advice since the company’s inception more than 20 years’ ago.