Police are appealing for information after a pensioner died following a fatal crash on the A9 last night.
Scots pensioners face freezing winter due to 'sky high' charges for pre-payment meters
30.08.2022 - 07:29 / dailyrecord.co.uk
Thousands of Scots pensioners face a freezing winter with no heat due to “sky high” charges for pre-payment meters, campaigners have warned.
The “inevitable” disaster has led campaigners to demand the scrapping of standing charges for pre-paid gas and electric meters, which are used by the most vulnerable people.
It is believed that thousands of elderly people - among 470,000 Scots on such meters - are now effectively “off the grid” after running up standing charge bills they cannot afford to pay.
This means no gas or electricity will be supplied until the debt on the meter is cleared - which could mean finding £150 or so despite bills already surging.
Standing charges went up by around 80 per cent in April, to around 50p a day for pre-payment meters.
Mandy Morgan, CEO of the Scottish Pantry Network, has led calls for the abolition of standing charges - or she believes thousands of pensioners could freeze to death this winter.
And she believes this so-called “self-disconnection” by poor households needs to be tackled urgently by governments in Westminster and Holyrood - as well as power companies themselves.
Morgan said: “This was a serious issue in 2018 but what we are seeing now is way in excess of that. It’s distressing that we still even have pre-payment meters.
“Having a debt of £20 or £30 could easily be enough to take someone off the grid, with the power companies deeming them to be ‘self disconnected.’
“But the deficit this year will be far greater, as the cap on standing charges is way out of control and debt is mounting every day.
“I don’t think it is scaremongering to say that many elderly people’s lives could be on the line, as all evidence shows that old people literally die from the cold, with mortality spiking
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