The only acceptable part in this, is these insurance companies would of had to put aside a large some of money to pay back these annuities (like Barclays having to put aside 1 billion £ for PPI), so they went crying to the Government.
In the example, receiving £59 a month as a pension, compared the new state pension of £155 a week, just how worthless some of these pensions are. Again in this example, the lady was going to put her pot towards getting a car, so she could visit her elderly parents. Until you're are locked into these worthless pensions, you cannot understand how frustrating and in this case, distressing they are.