Charity fuel aid plea for elderly

By Maryam Moshiri
Business reporter, BBC News

Many elderly are worried about paying their bills

More financial help is needed for elderly people struggling in the current cold snap, a charity say.

Charity Age Concern and Help the Aged wants the government to increase extra fuel payments for pensioners during this prolonged period of cold weather.

It warns if nothing is done lives of many older people could be put at risk.

Last winter, 36,700 excess winter deaths were recorded in England and Wales, an increase of nearly 50% compared with the previous winter.

Not 'fit for purpose'

The charity's spokesman Mervyn Kohler warns more deaths will happen this year if something isn't done.

"We have seen different bits of so-called progress being made but it's nothing like fit for purpose," he said.

"The winter fuel payment no longer pays very much of a normal energy bill, the insulation and draft proofing programmes are not working very broadly and the consequences are going to be, more people die, more people are going to get ill, put pressure on the NHS, and more people are going to feel miserable."

'Very worried'

73-year-old Mary Philips lives alone in South east London.

Through the very cold snap she has kept her heating on but says she is worried about what she will do when it comes to paying the bill.

"I've had to keep the heating on a lot of the day," says Mary.

"Usually it's on a timer but over the last few days I've had to have it on all the time and I'm very worried that my energy bills will go up so much that I have to eat less and heat more."

Payment rates

The government currently provides a number of schemes and extra payments to help older people with their fuel bills.

The Winter Fuel Payment is a one-off payment paid to all pensioners. You get £250 if you are over 60 and £400 if you are over the age of 80.

The government also pays a cold weather payment which kicks in when the weather stays cold for more than seven consecutive days. It is a one-off payment of £25 and is means tested.

As well as government payments, suppliers often offer grants, special tariffs and other measures on a case-by-case basis.

'Try to help'

The Minister for Energy and Climate Change David Kidney says the government is doing all it can to help older people.

Mr Kidney says there is help during the cold spell

"I think we should all be very concerned to want to do everything we can to reduce the number of people who die because of the cold," he says.

"I've set out the arrangements from this department that we do to try to help people.

"All parts of government are doing everything we can to make sure people are comfortable in their homes."

But the government's help is cold comfort for Mary Philips.

"The other night I was so cold I had to get out of bed, move my pillows and everything up to the other end of the bed not next to the window because it was so cold that I thought I might be going to freeze to death," she says.

With the cold weather set to continue, the fear is without more help the more vulnerable are most at risk.