The House of Lords has voted to keep the age of compulsory annuitisation at 75 during its debate of the Pensions Bill.

The House of Lords rejected amendments made by the Liberal Democrats to the Pensions Bill for annuitisation extension for people aged 85 to 80. An earlier amendment tabled by the Conservative Party, proposing a temporary suspension to the age 75 rule was also rejected.

Other amendments proposing an open market disclaimer statement for all annuity purchasers and a proposal to introduce an investigation into the cost of public sector pensions were also refused by the House of Lords.

Tom McPhail head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdowne said: "Annuity reform, the Open Market option and the funding of the public sector pensions are all issues that require urgent action. We are very disappointed that this opportunity to bring these issues back onto the reform agenda has been missed. the government has been left off the hook."