Pensioners across the UK are this winter face losing up to £600 of payments thanks to a double whammy of the £300 Winter Fuel Payment cut and £300 Cost of Living payment being axed.
Money saving expert Martin Lewis has criticised the move by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to limit Winter Fuel Allowance to only those on Pension Credit or other low-income benefits, calling it ‘too narrow’ especially when a Cost of Living payment given to pensioners for each of the past two winters is also not being issued this winter either.
And now, Ofgem has announced that gas and electricity bills will rise by 10 percent from October 1, an average £149 rise for a typical household. Taken together, Martin estimates that pensioners will be £500 worse off this winter.
Back in the peak of the cost of living crisis, Martin Lewis put together a ‘desperate’ guide on how to ‘heat the person, not the home’ as millions of people faced being plunged into heating poverty.
In a depressing change of lane from his usual money saving prudence, Martin tried to come up with an alternative for people who simply cannot afford to run their heating at home any more because of the cost of living crisis.
Martin Lewis pointed out how people can wear heated USB gloves, hand warmers, an electric gilet or an electric blanket to get warm without having to heat the entire house.
Martin said: “I felt sad asking my team to put this together, but my emailbag is full of folk so desperate they can’t put the heat on, I wanted to try some help. Pls share.”
Martin pointed out in his guide that it costs only £24 in 2024 prices to buy a cheap electric blanket which in turn, costs 3p an hour to run, even in the peak of 2022’s rising energy costs. That equals a cost per week of £1.37 if used for seven hours a day and even this winter’s energy rates won’t be as high as 2022, so it’s less than £1.37 a week.
An electric gilet, basically a heated jacket, would cost £46 to buy and just 4p per week to run, while USB gloves would cost 4p per week to run and just £5 to buy.
Martin added on his site when he published it in 2022: “This is a guide I really wish we needn’t be publishing. The reason I asked Sarah and the team to put this together is due to my overflowing e-mail bag of desperation from people who can’t afford their energy bills. So don’t see this as an ‘MSE or Martin says you should do this’.”
“It’s more that we’re trying to help provide some options and information for those that may need to drastically cut down on energy usage due to financial desperation and some help for others who may want to do it out of a commitment to green issues.”
Another consumer expert Jack Monroe reached out to Martin Lewis for the guide, adding: “Thankyou for your vital and heartbreaking service, friend. I know this is taking a hell of a toll on you, please please take care of yourself out here. We need you now more than ever, but we need you well and fit for what’s to come”
Martin responded: “What lovely words – thanks Jack. Yes I’m feeling the pressure, but that’s trivial compared to the trauma many are facing being unable to afford to live.”
