The £150 emergency cost of living payment arriving in accounts this month ‘won’t even touch the sides’ for disabled people facing extra costs, charities have said.
Tom Marsland, policy manager for disability equality charity Scope, says that even before the current crisis, life was already costing around £580 a month more for disabled people who need to use more domestic energy for day-to-day living as well as buying specialist food and equipment.
‘We’ve been inundated with calls to our Disability Energy Support helpline,’ he says. ‘There has been a 500% increase in people getting in touch with us since February.’
Those in receipt of certain disability benefits will automatically receive a £150 payment this month into their bank accounts, while those on certain other benefits will receive more.
However, Tom Marsland says that the amount was calculated before recent rises in energy bills and food prices and will not be enough to compensate for the extra costs of disability.
‘We’ve been calling for the payments to be at least double,’ he says, adding that he believes the Government should look at a social tariff for those with high usage due to disability.
Richard Kramer, chief executive of national disability charity Sense, adds that families with disabled members are being pushed into poverty by increasing bills.
The charity’s research showed that nearly three quarters (72%) of families with a disabled child or adult have been pushed into debt by higher food and energy costs, with more than half borrowing money from friends and family.
‘Everyone is affected by rising prices, but disabled households are some of the hardest hit because of their circumstances,’ he says. ‘Many are in poverty, less likely to be in full-time work and face higher costs for energy for essential equipment and the additional costs of disability.
‘Our research illustrates the desperate everyday reality of disabled households across the UK who are in debt and facing impossible decisions, such as whether to eat or heat their homes.’
According to Scope, a third of disabled adults believe that their disability has a ‘significant impact’ on their energy use.
Tom Marsland says this is partly because those with limited mobility cannot move around to keep warm so may need to heat their homes to a higher temperature, while assistive technologies, such as wheelchairs, are also energy intensive.
There has been a 500% increase in people getting in touch with us since February
Other expenses include adaptations to homes, such as lifts and hoists, as well as the cost of therapies, specialist insurance and transport such as taxis.Jo Burridge is terrified about how she will tackle rising household fuel bills in the coming months.
Since she was diagnosed with leukaemia and had a bone marrow transplant in 2010, she has struggled to work full-time and has needed to claim benefits to make ends meet due to her continued deteriorating health.
Because of her health problems she feels the cold and usually has the heating on even in summer, but now she is too scared to use it.
‘I’ve been putting on extra layers of clothes and wrapping myself up in a blanket,’ says Jo, 52. ‘It’s really quite concerning. I’ve no idea how I am going to manage.”
Jo Burridge, who has leukaemia, feels the cold due to her health condition but can’t afford to put the heating on.
She used to run a small counselling business but has had to pause this because of her health.
She says that Government minister Rachel Maclean, who suggested that struggling people take on more hours or get better jobs to deal with rising costs, was not being realistic.
‘In my condition, because of my health, I certainly couldn’t. I used to work lots of hours and different shifts in different parts of the country, but I can’t do that now.
‘So it’s really unrealistic when they say that’s the kind of thing people need to do because not everyone can,’ says Jo. ‘The system really needs to improve, to help people rather than stigmatise and scapegoat them.
‘People don’t go into poverty just because they can’t handle money or they’re stupid or they haven’t tried.’