The Marie Curie charity has published a new report on the impact of fuel poverty on terminally ill people.
The report shows that terminally ill people may experience a vicious cycle of fuel poverty. Their deteriorating health means they have to spend a lot more to heat their homes sufficiently – which some may struggle to afford due to depleted incomes and the other significant costs associated with their illness – but the consequences of living in a cold home can be severe; leading to new infections, making existing symptoms flare up or become worse, affecting their mental wellbeing and, in the worst cases, even hastening their death.
The report makes a number of recommendations to help terminally ill people out of fuel poverty, including:
- Reform of the Special Rules for Terminal Illness in benefits law and the five-week wait for Universal Credit;
- Automatic access to the Warm Home Discount scheme for terminally ill people and a new vulnerability component in the eligibility criteria for Winter Fuel Payments;
- Universal implementation of the recommendations in NICE guideline NG6 (Excess winter deaths and illness and the health risks associated with cold homes);
- Targeted information and guidance on staying warm and combatting fuel poverty for people who are terminally ill. Read more here: https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/policy/campaigns/the-cost-of-fuel-poverty