8th October 2009
by Erin Ross
A record 40%of the 13 million pensioners in the UK will be cutting back on gas and electricity this winter as they cannot afford to pay the bills.
Charity Age Concern has reported that 5.2 million over 60s will “go cold” at some point over the winter month; this can lead to illness, and even in some cases death. The Office for National Statistics has calculated that between the months of December 2007 and March 2008 there were 24,995 “excess winter deaths”.
Myra Christie, 74, of Aberfeldy, Perthshire is one of the millions of pensioners who are feeling the pinch. With the average state pension coming in at just £95 per week, and her ever increasing gas and electric bills coming into an average of £120 a month, Mrs Christie is among the many who are now recognised as being in fuel poverty. According to the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group numbers in poverty history has trebled in the past five years from 1.2 million to 4 million last year.
For Mrs Christie, who owns a 3 bed terrace house; the situation is worse than for most, as she is actually in debt to the energy supplier, “I switched companies and my bills were meant to go up, but they never. I know owe £800 in arrears to British gas.”