Kate Garraway has revealed she’s resorted to withdrawing money from her pension pot to pay the huge bills from her late husband Derek Draper’s medical care.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 57, shared the insight into her financial struggles during a discussion about the NHS and private care.
Following Derek’s death, Kate has revealed she ended up in debts of between £500,000 and £800,000 while trying to fund her husband’s round-the-clock medical care, after his battle with Covid in 2020.
In an ITV documentary last month, the star admitted she couldn’t even afford to have the heating on in October.
Kate revealed that she’s taken money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s belated medical bills, after sharing the results of a GMB survey, which revealed one in five Brits are getting themselves into debt while funding private medical care.
Kate Garraway has revealed she’s resorted to withdrawing money from her pension pot to pay the huge bills from her late husband Derek Draper’s medical care
Following Derek’s death, Kate has revealed she ended up in thousands of pounds of debt while trying to fund her husband’s round-the-clock medical care
She said: ‘I am doing something similar myself.
‘I have had to withdraw the bit you can tax free from my pension to pay for belated bills for my husband, who has now passed away.
‘People are having to do things – it wasn’t a huge pension in the first place – which aren’t what they saved for.’
Kate previously shared that she researched accessing her pension fund early to try and fund Derek’s care.
In a recent episode of GMB, she said: ‘It’s only when a crisis hits you suddenly think hmm.
‘I have experience of this, Derek fell very ill in March 2020. I was aware that he had some pensions, I had a small one that I knew.’
Over the weekend, Kate also marked her first birthday since Derek’s death, sharing an Instagram video from her relaxing lunch with a group of friends.
The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles, and she captioned her post: ‘Well yesterday was another one of those sad 1st’s – my first birthday since Derek’s passing.
Kate revealed that she’s taken money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s medical bills
Derek was amongst the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19 , being admitted into an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020
Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3 (pictured with Kate in 2019)
Over the weekend, Kate also marked her first birthday since Derek’s death, sharing an Instagram video from her relaxing lunch with a group of friends
The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles
In a candid caption, Kate said she felt ‘so sad’ when she woke up on her birthday, but decided to spend the day ‘celebrating life’ after Derek’s battle with Covid
‘Woke up feeling so sad & thought well I can either cry all day or celebrate life as he did so well. And thanks to wonderful friends it worked!
‘See you on @gmb tomorrow from 6 – happy bank holiday weekend everyone!’
Kate spent her last birthday opening her cards and reading them aloud to her COVID-stricken husband which was seen by fans in emotional scenes during her fly-on-the-wall documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
The journalist is now determined to create ‘wonderful new memories’ for her two children Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14, four months after their dad’s death.
Derek was amongst the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19, being admitted into an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020.
He was one of the country’s longest-suffering Covid patients after being in hospital but never fully recovered after the virus left long-lasting damage to his organs and meant he needed round-the-clock care.
Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3.