SINGLE parents, people with disabilities and those facing terminal illness are among groups most at risk of needing to use credit to cover essential costs to stay alive this winter, a Bradford-based charity warns.
A total of 60 per cent of people with a terminal illness and 44 per cent of those with a physical disability who are clients of Bradford debt charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) have been forced to use credit as a financial support lifeline.
Across the UK, a total of 88 per cent of CAP’s clients had turned to credit because of a financial or personal crisis.
CAP’s ‘Lifelines to Safety’ report highlights the need for further financial lifelines to be provided to vulnerable people facing a desperate winter, so they do not have to rely on credit to survive.
The report’s shocking figures also reveal 42 per cent of CAP’s single parent clients and 47 per cent of those who have experienced abuse have had to turn to credit in a crisis, often pushed into borrowing due to unexpected household bills, repairs or the loss of a job or relationship.
Stephen, a CAP client, worked on a land-based oil rig for 26 years but after suffering spinal damage in a car accident and having two strokes he is now unable to work.
Living on Universal Credit and PIP, it is difficult for him to make ends meet and his debts spiralled due to not having enough money to cover his needs.
He received free debt help from CAP and has become debt free but being on Universal Credit, he’s finding it difficult to afford the rising costs and worries about the winter ahead.
He said: “It has got harder and harder with gas, electric and food going up. You start noticing your money is going nowhere.
“CAP have been brilliant as they put your mind at rest and give you all the advice you need. But with the bills increasing now, it’s getting worse.
“I’m really frightened about the gas bill coming now.
When winter comes everything is going up – that will be the end of us
“I think a lot of people will be freezing to death because you’re choosing between food and heating.”
Alongside their own client data, polling commissioned by CAP from YouGov has revealed that almost one in five (19 per cent) of adults in the UK, amounting to 10 million people, are struggling to keep up financially with rising costs.
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