Monday 22 January 2018

The elderly feel the chill from bills this winter

 
Cold temperatures this winter are making older people across the UK worry about their health and finances.

That's according to a survey of 2,000 respondents aged above 65 by comparethemarket.com, which suggests more than two-fifths of this group are worried cold weather will lead to higher energy costs.

As many as 11%, totalling around 1.3 million elderly people, don’t feel they can afford an increase in their energy bills, with a third planning to ration their usage as a result.

The survey found nearly a fifth of the elderly are on expensive default tariffs, equating to two million old age pensioners across the country.

Peter Earl, Head of Energy at Comparethemarket.com, said: "Cold weather already presents worrying health problems to the elderly and it is critical they should not be faced with additional costs at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

"The government’s proposed price cap is not going to help them this winter and is unlikely to provide a silver bullet solution to the problem of soaring prices."