Just under half of all pensioners are planning to largely live in one room this winter to save money on energy following the axing of the Winter Fuel Payment, according to new research.
Details were revealed as protesters were due to hand in a petition – signed by more than 500,000 people opposing the removal of the payment – to Downing Street today.
A YouGov poll for Independent Age found 49 percent of older people said they are planning to only heat and spend time in one room.
The research also found that 43 percent plan to wear outdoor clothes, such as hats and coats, indoors in order to stay warm. And 44 percent fear losing the Winter Fuel Payment will harm their physical health.
Campaigners, including the charity Age UK, have warned that many old and vulnerable people will suffer, with the result that thousands could die as a result of health conditions made worse by the cold.
It estimates that 2.5 million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in serious trouble as a result.
Independent Age chief executive Joanna Elson said limiting the payment to a small group of retired people who qualify for Pension Credit means “far too many older people fall through the cracks”.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The new figures confirm that many older people will now start to develop unsafe behaviours as a result of the winter fuel payment cuts, including limiting themselves to living in one room of their homes during the winter.
“Until the Government fully implements its plans to improve insulation and ventilation of buildings as well as stabilise energy costs, vulnerable households will continue to need financial support. That’s why the Winter Fuel Payments were so important, the money provided help for older households to stay warm each winter.”
He added: “Sadly, now more older people are expected to live in cold damp homes this winter and this puts them at greater risk of ill health, meaning the costs to the NHS will soar.”
Warm This Winter spokesperson, Caroline Simpson, added: “Over half a million people from all walks of life have voiced their fears about the winter fuel payments being axed through these petitions and we urge the Government to listen to them with a delay this winter so the impact can be properly assessed and help given to those pensioners who will not cope without it.
“We know the majority of people in the UK support an affordable, social tariff which would help the most vulnerable such as families, the ill and the 6.5 million in fuel poverty, funded by the wider energy industry who are raking in billions in profits while we are all paying 60 percent more on our energy bills since the start of the crisis.
“The government must also get on with the important business of insulating homes – which is the quickest way to reduce bills – and continue its drive to ramp up renewable energy, ending our reliance on volatile oil and gas to bring down bills for everyone for good.”
Age UK said: “We strongly oppose the cut to the Winter Fuel Payment that means only those receiving Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits will receive it. This will leave millions of struggling pensioners without money they rely on.”
