Pensioner Yvonne Bailey still struggles to afford her energy bills – even though she is still eligible for the winter fuel payment, she told The i Paper.
She said: “When I heard they were cutting the winter fuel payment, I felt physically sick. I’m lucky that I get this but £200 won’t even touch the sides now bills are so high.”
The 79-year-old said she has “no quality of life” because the state pension in the UK is not enough to live on.
After paying her bills, which she has seen soar in recent years, and doing the food shop, she has nothing left.
A trip to the cinema, a meal out, a coffee with friends is all out of the question for the pensioner, from West Oxfordshire. And she hasn’t had a holiday in 27 years, she added.
Ms Bailey said: “My income is made up of the state pension and pension credit so I get around £250 a week and in this day and age, that’s just not enough.
“Thankfully, my rent and council tax are covered but I have seen my energy bills rise to around £50 a week.
“I don’t know how because I hardly have the heating on. I normally put it on in the morning for about an hour, so the bathroom is warm when I shower and then maybe for an hour in the afternoon, but I never set it higher than 15°C, so it literally just takes the chill off.
“I’m doing all that I can – I switch my appliances off when I’m not using them and I wrap up in the house to avoid putting the heating on, but I shouldn’t have to live like this.”
Ms Bailey has been widowed for 27 years and tragically lost her eldest son in a road traffic accident the same year. She lives on her own in a bungalow with only her dog Daisy for company.
The winter months have been especially long and lonely in the cost of living crisis, she said.
“I’m dreading the future. This Government and the previous one have no idea what it’s like to manage on such a low amount. I have no other income and no other way of getting any more money – where do they think I’m going to get the extra cash from.
“This is just the essentials too. I pay for my bills, food, broadband and my TV. If I didn’t have this, I don’t know what I’d do all day because I can’t afford to go out. I don’t do anything, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I couldn’t stand the isolation without it.”
Before the pandemic, Ms Bailey said she was spending around £30 a week on food from Ocado. Now, she is spending around £80, and this is after cutting out treats like salmon and cream cakes.
She added: “Everything has gone up. Fresh veg, bread and eggs are really high. I try and stick to own brands because they’re cheaper, but they’ve increased in price too.”
Ms Bailey receives the basic state pension of £169.50 a week and around £75 from pension credit.
She will also get the winter fuel allowance, which was scrapped for many UK pensioners earlier this year by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Now, only pensioners in receipt of pension credit or certain other means-tested benefits are eligible for the payment of between £200 and £300.
Speaking about the support on offer for pensioners, Ms Bailey said: “The state pension just isn’t enough. Not in the real world. How are we meant to manage on this money? I have no quality of life.
Ms Bailey, who used to work as a receptionist, managed to get herself in £7,000 worth of debt, which has only increased her worries.
She said: “My little dog needed some urgent treatment, and the overall bill came to £7,000. I obviously didn’t have that sort of money, so I had to crowdfund, but I only managed to raise around £750. The rest was split between a credit card and a loan I took out.
“Luckily, I have cleared half of this debt now and by this time next year, I hope to be debt-free.
“Money is a constant worry in my life, and it shouldn’t be that way. I’ve worked all of my life and paid my taxes, and now I’m being left behind.”
Morgan Vine, Director of Policy and Influencing at Independent Age said: “We know that many people in later life like Yvonne are receiving both the state pension and pension credit and still find it hard to afford everything they need.
“With energy bills still at very high levels, and other essentials also increasing in price, many older people that we speak to at Independent Age are still forced to make dramatic cuts.
“That’s why we’re calling on the UK Government to do more to protect older people against financial hardship.
“They need politicians to work together to establish what level of income is needed to avoid financial hardship in later life and ensure everyone is able to reach it, including those who are wholly reliant on the state pension.
“They should also introduce a social tariff for people on a low income who can’t afford to pay their energy bills.
“This could provide some much needed financial security for the almost two million people in later life currently living in poverty, as well as future generations.”
