Can you beat the pension postcode lottery?

If you have worked hard to be able to afford to live in one of the wealthier parts of the UK, then on retirement you'll be soundly punished for it - with a pension annuity payout that's up to £10,000 lower than elsewhere in the country.

Annuity companies are paying more and more attention to where you live when they are calculating your pension payout, and the better the area, the less you can expect to get. So why is this, and can you beat the system?