'I was virtually hibernating last winter due to the cost of heating - it'll be the same this year'

The Government faces calls to provide urgent targeted help to hard-up households as debt charities revealed they are encountering “heartbreaking life or death situations”.

A group of 17 organisations have signed a joint letter to the Department for Work and Pensions demanding support for those on “chronically low incomes”. While inflation has fallen sharply, they warn that for many people there is no let-up in the daily cost of living crisis.

The letter, whose signatories includes grass roots bodies across the UK, say people are “skipping meals, limiting utility usage, borrowing informally, and even selling possessions”. Among those involved is the charity Christians Against Poverty which says its debt advisors are reporting “heartbreaking life or death situations as many don’t feel able to carry on living on shockingly low incomes”.

Campaigners fear a new wave of misery when energy bills jump from October. Recent polling by YouGov found almost half (48%) of UK adults limit their electricity or gas use in the house at least once a month because of the cost.

Others signing the DWP letter include the Caritas Social Action Network, Community Money Advice, Debt Justice, the Independent Food Aid Network, Just Money Movement, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, the Poverty Truth Network, and The Salvation Army UK and Ireland.

It comes as Labour continues to defend its decision to cut winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners, despite a huge backlash.

One of those denied the allowance said they were forced to “virtually hibernate” in bed last winter when temperatures plunged, leaving him fearing the cold months to come even more. Pensioner Simon - who asked not to use his surname - lives alone in a one-bed bungalow in Sunderland. “I have a combi boiler that I only put on for hot water when it is absolutely freezing,” Simon told the Mirror.

Hammering home the impact, he described the lengths he want to last winter to keep the cold at bay. “I was virtually hibernating,” he said. “I would get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and then get back into bed until the afternoon, and the get up later to watch telly and put on the fire for as little time as necessary. I was that anxious about the cost of heating.

“I will have to do the same this winter and ration my use. I may get to the point where I have to choose between heating and eating.”

Simon, 70, a retired executive assistant, says a private pension takes him over the threshold to receive pension credit. As a result, he will be denied a winter fuel payment of up to £300.

A devout Christian, Simon says he spent time in ‘warm spaces’ such as church to fend off the cold, and for social reasons. He is very critical of Labour’s decision to slash the numbers getting the winter fuel payment, saying he felt “hoodwinked”.

Kiri Adams, Christians Against Poverty’s (CAP) social policy manager, said: “Energy prices are a huge concern for many of the people we’re helping and with costs rising again from October millions will be forced to limit their energy use over winter or face falling into further debt.

“It’s a heartbreaking situation for many people who don’t have enough income to cover basics like electricity and gas so they can keep themselves and their family warm, clean and healthy but that’s the reality for millions on low incomes across the UK right now.

“With energy prices set to remain high this winter, CAP is calling on the Government to put in place long term and targeted support so that everyone can afford to keep warm and safe.”

The letter calls for the government to review the rate of social security and the minimum wage to ensure a floor is set so that people receive a protected minimum amount sufficient to pay for life’s essentials and thereby ensuring no one is pushed into deprivation.

A DWP spokesperson said: “Far too many people are living in poverty – that’s why we’ve taken immediate action to extend the Household Support Fund to protect the most vulnerable this winter and have already started work on an ambitious strategy to tackle child poverty.

“We are also committed to reviewing Universal Credit, protecting the triple lock for pensioners and delivering a genuine living wage for working people as we fix the foundations of our country and spread opportunity and prosperity to all.”