Terminally ill people in ‘vicious cycle’ of fuel poverty

Thu,26 November 2020
News Equality & Rights

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: