I've just spent the last hour going through stacks of papers working out what our energy bills will be based on the new caps announced this morning. It's over £4k a year.
Both me and OH are severely disabled and can't work. We claim all the benefits we are entitled to and can't get anything else. We already lead very frugal lives. We're wearing 8 year old clothes full of holes, living on own brand food, and gave up the car two years ago leaving us mostly housebound. Food prices are up, rent has gone up, energy bills are up and we were only just making it before.
OH is waiting for a lung transplant and is on oxygen in the mean time. Whenever he breathes in cold air he goes into a massive coughing fit that can quickly turn into a medical emergency as his o2 levels plummet and he has passed out several times because of this. He can't even be in the kitchen when I open the fridge as that is enough to trigger it.
During the winter we have to heat the entire flat with the doors open. We can't cut down usage by just heating the room we are in as every time we open the door he'd have a coughing fit ( we tried last year and he ended up very ill within 3-4 days and his doctor told us to stop). Any time the temperature in the flat is under 22c he struggles to keep his O2 levels above 90%. We even have to run the heating on in summer if it drops low enough inside (and also to help combat the damp in the flat as that also affects his breathing). We can't move as the flat has been adapted for my physical disabilities and rent for anywhere else suitable is more than 3x our current rent.
There is no way to cut back on what we use, nowhere to cut spending on other items. No way to increase income. We're just stuck and have no idea where to go from here. We're already £2k in debt with water and energy bills and this is only going to get worse from here. I genuinely have no idea what to do.