‘I got a credit card after losing the winter fuel payment’

Sandra said she used to depend on her winter fuel payment, but when it became means tested her pension pushed her £20 a week over the threshold so she lost it.

“I’ve had to take out a credit card, overdraft and a credit account to be able to pay for things this winter,” she told the BBC.

Sandra is one of the 11 million pensioners who lost the payments, worth up to £300, just as temperatures dropped.

The government said it was committed to supporting pensioners but charity Age UK said it had seen a 60% increase in calls to its advice line during the worst of the cold snap.

“I have £4 in my [bank] account currently,” said Sandra, 66, who lives alone in County Durham. “I’m paying off my credit [card] account month by month, something that is a direct result of losing the winter fuel allowance.

“Psychologically, it makes you feel a bit of a failure.

“We’re still in the middle of winter, so I’m just hoping and praying we don’t get another cold snap because I don’t have anywhere to go if I can’t pay my bills.”

The winter fuel payment is a lump sum of £200 a year for pensioners under 80, increasing to £300 for over 80s. It is paid in November or December and used go to all pensioners regardless of their income.

Last year the government announced it would be restricted to those who qualify for pension credit and other means-tested benefits.

Age UK said the number of calls to its Advice Line increased by 50% in the first full week of January, rising to 60% the week after.

A spokesperson said: “The cold weather is one of the biggest topics callers are worried about at the moment.

“Even though the date to claim pension credit by, to be awarded the winter fuel payment this year has now passed, we are still seeing enquiries for benefit checks due to the increased worry of meeting the cost of living.”

Earlier this month, temperatures dropped so low in the small village of Sedbergh in Cumbria that cold weather payments were triggered.

The one-off £25 sum is paid to those on benefits during prolonged cold weather.

Next door neighbours Rosemary, 93, and Marjorie, 92, have known each other since primary school. Neither of them qualified for winter fuel allowance or cold weather payments this year.

“It’s a lot of money to lose,” Rosemary said. “It makes a big difference. You shouldn’t rely on it but you did rely on it, I though ‘oh well I can get a bit of extra food I can get another bag of coal in’.”

Marjorie’s home is old and poorly insulated. “I find it difficult to heat my home because I’ve got all outside walls and they’re stone,” she said.

Data from the Department for Levelling Up shows that the area to the north of Sedberg is the worst in England for energy efficient homes.

17.7% of homes in and around Penrith have the lowest EPC ratings – F or G.

At the Grange Community Centre in Blackpool, Rachel Denby advises pensioners on how to make their homes more energy efficient and keep their bills down.

“An elderly person might pay all the bills, stay on top of payments and not be in any debt so from the outside it doesn’t look like there’s an issue, but in reality they’re not eating or they’re not turning the heating on,” she told the BBC.

The government said it did not want to see anyone suffer this winter and was committed to supporting pensioners with millions set to see their state pension rise in April.