Response to the energy price cap rising in October

Mark Jackson, Marie Curie Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said:

"Proposals to raise the energy price cap yet again will be devastating news to terminally ill people who are already desperately struggling to make ends meet. The average energy bill of a terminally ill person doubles after their diagnosis - even before recent price rises, dying people have been facing a cost of living crisis. To see their energy costs going up twice in a year on top of that is a double whammy that many families simply can't afford.

"With this rise coming alongside sharp increases in inflation, we are extremely concerned that many more dying people and their loved ones will be forced into the impossible position of choosing between heating their homes or eating this winter.

"Recent Marie Curie research has shown how 90,000 people die below the poverty line every year, with those who are of working age when they die twice as likely to die in poverty as pensioners. Nobody should die in poverty, but with costs rising ever-higher we are worried even more terminally ill people will fall into poverty this year - spending their last months of life living in a cold home, struggling to make ends meet and leaving behind memories of pain and distress for their bereaved families.

"Marie Curie's #DyingInPoverty campaign is calling for the Government to take urgent action to support terminally ill people who are struggling with the cost of living and at risk of dying in poverty. As part of the campaign we are calling for all dying people - including those of working age - to receive the Winter Fuel Payment and for those on low incomes to get support from the Warm Home Discount. The Government must do more to support dying people at risk of fuel poverty, not pile even more financial strain on them."