A pensioner said she can’t afford to turn on the heating this year, following the rise in the energy price cap and the scrapping of the winter fuel payment for millions of people.
Maria Liljefors, 84, lives in a small flat in Totnes, Devon, which she says is always cold.
Sat in her armchair wearing two jumpers, wrapped up in blankets, with two duvets on her bed for extra warmth, Maria eats just one meal a day – usually half a tin of sardines, boiled potatoes and some salad.
She told i: “With energy bills rising again, I just don’t know how I’m going to be able to afford it on top of everything else that has gone up.
“I can’t afford anything at the moment. I’m only having one meal a day and that’s really boring. I often feel hungry, so I fill myself up on biscuits and sometimes bananas because they keep you fuller for longer.”
She is one of millions of people who will see their energy bills increase following an increase to the regulator Ofgem’s price cap. It is set every three months and affects the price paid for each unit of gas and electricity.
Under the cap, prices have fallen twice this year – in April and July – but now they have increased by 10 per cent to £1,717 a year for the average household.
For Maria, this is a significant amount of money. She limits her water, gas and electricity usage and didn’t put on her heating once last year.
“I really struggle to make ends meet, and now I won’t get the winter fuel payment too. I didn’t even put the heating on last year because I couldn’t afford it, and now this year it’s going to be even worse. I can’t see myself putting the heating on this year.”
Maria receives the full basic state pension of £169.50 per week and roughly £31 from a workplace pension. She has no savings and without the winter fuel payment this year, she is “terrified”.
About 10 million pensioners are set to lose the tax-free payment after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that she was scrapping it for those not in receipt of pension credit or some other means-tested benefits, including universal credit.
Maria isn’t eligible for pension credit so will miss out on the annual payment, which is worth up to £300.
The former costume designer said: “There’s very little I can afford to do. I go for little walks to try and keep my legs going but when it’s cold outside, I don’t want to come back to a cold house.
“I’ve lost a lot of weight over the last couple of years because I’m not eating very much.
“I’m angry about the winter fuel payment being axed – why are the Government targeting old people like me? Pensioners have difficulty speaking for ourselves and no one listens anyway.”
Maria admitted that the cost of living crisis has caused her to suffer with depression.
She said: “I worked hard all my life, raised two kids and rarely asked for anything from the government. Now I’m just hoping that the little I have in premium bonds will be enough to pay for my funeral.”
In the hope the Government will help more people with their energy bills, she is one of the nearly 100,000 people to have signed charity 38 Degrees’ petition to “tax the super-rich to support struggling families”.
It says a 2 per cent tax on the richest people in the UK would raise enough money to help with crucial services such as energy bills.
Matthew McGregor, CEO at 38 Degrees, said: “It’s clear the new Government have inherited an economy that has been badly broken – but with the energy price cap rising once again, they are expecting the wrong people to fill the budget black hole.
“Instead of papering over the cracks by stripping pensioners of their winter fuel payments, or dashing the hopes of families who’d hoped for an end to the two-child benefit limit, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves should be asking those with the deepest pockets to pay their fair share.
“The Government still has plenty of time to show it is committed to helping those most in need and making our economy fairer.”
