‘Sometimes dinner is just biscuits’: Elderly people choose between heating and eating as bills surge by £830

Half a million more pensioners to be plunged into fuel poverty this winter as energy bills jump again

In October energy bills will eat up 22 per cent of the income of pensioners living alone, after housing costs (PA)

Vulnerable elderly people face choosing between “crushing levels of debt” or living in cold homes that put them at risk of worsening health conditions, as average energy bills look set to surge by more than £800 this winter.

That is the warning from fuel poverty campaigners as figures revealed that single pensioners would be forced to spend more than a fifth of their income after housing costs on gas and electricity.

It comes after Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley told MPs the regulator is expecting the energy price cap to increase by a further £830 to £2,800 in October.

If Ofgem’s estimate is correct, energy bills would eat up 22 per cent of a pensioner’s average weekly income of £246, according to the latest official data.

National Energy Action (NEA) warned that the rise would plunge more than half a million pensioners into fuel poverty, taking the total number to 2.5 million.

Millions of older people would be “priced out” of warmth and power if the chancellor does not provide financial help, it said.

“Unless the UK Government intervenes further and provides deep support for the most vulnerable households, we are going to see millions of pensioners priced out of warmth and power.

“They will be forced to either rack up crushing levels of debt or ration their use of energy to dangerous levels,” said Matt Copeland, head of policy at NEA.

“The elderly are particularly at risk from various health issues which come from spending too much time in cold homes – respiratory conditions and heart problems can be fatal and the worse this crisis gets, the more the elderly and other vulnerable households will suffer.”

Rishi Sunak is expected to unveil billions of pounds of help on Thursday as families struggle to cope with a deepening cost of living crisis.

Among the policies under consideration is a change to the Warm Home Discount, which currently offers £150 off energy bills for 3 million low-income households.

The chancellor is reportedly looking at increasing the discount to £500 or £600, but that would still cover less than half of the increase in energy bills since last September.

Campaigners for the elderly say more is needed to prevent health problems and avoidable early deaths.

Age UK estimates that 2 million older households won’t have enough to cover their essential spending over the next year.

The charity has urged government to raise the level of benefits payments and the state pension so they keep pace with rising prices.

It also wants a targeted one-off payment to older people on the lowest incomes so they can afford to heat their homes and eat adequately.

One pensioner said: “My husband and I are both on the basic state pension.

“I am disabled and on lower rate PIP and he has Raynaud’s Syndrome, which means he must keep warm at all times.

“We can’t afford to get out much, especially now with heavy petrol increases. With the triple lock gone and food also escalating we are just having to eat less and less. Sometimes dinner is just biscuits.”

Brenda Balfe, 67, said she was in a “constant state of worry” about her finances.

“I’m having to really keeping an eye on the electric and gas. I often think that I’d better switch it off,” said Ms Balfe, who was widowed in 2020 when her husband Dave died,

“A lot of older people have had to cut back on where they are going and that’s left them isolated all over again.

“I’m always anxious about ‘what if I can’t pay this or that?’

“Living on a low income is a constant worry and strain, and it can really overwhelm you when all you can think about is how to cover the bills.”

Poverty in later life has been rising since 2012, yet hundreds of thousands of people are not receiving the financial support they are entitled to, according to charity Independent Age.

Large numbers of older people are missing out on pension credit, which tops up a person’s income and opens up access to other support, including the Warm Home Discount. Up to £1.7bn of pension credit set aside for older people is not reaching them.

Morgan Vine, head of policy at Independent Age, said: “We’ve already seen an influx of calls to our helpline from people over 65 who are incredibly stressed about how they’ll find the money to pay their energy bills, with some even skipping meals to make ends meet.

“The unprecedented increases we are now expecting in October will only make worse the fear and anxiety that older people are feeling.”

In a recent poll, almost half of people over 65 told the charity they couldn’t afford a £50-per-month increase in their cost of living.