A former soldier shot while serving in Northern Ireland and his wife, who has breast cancer, say they should not have to pay more for the second bedroom in their council bungalow.
Keith and Julie Foyle are facing a rent rise of £10.04 week because of the introduction of the spare room subsidy – called the bedroom tax by critics.
The couple have lived in a two-bedroom home in Newbold Verdon for eight years.
They said they could not share a room because of their medical conditions.
Keith, 60, was shot twice by a sniper in Belfast while serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1972. He still suffers complications because of his injuries.
He was medically discharged and suffers leg spasms and twitches in his sleep, leaving him worried he might hurt Julie, 54, who is having radiotherapy to treat breast cancer.
The couple live on £400 a week from his various war pension payments and said they could not afford a £40-a-month increase in their rent.
Keith, who also suffers from severe arthritis, back pain and angina, said: "We can't afford it and we don't live in a house that is under-occupied.
"We don't have a spare room but we are being charged for one.
"The bedroom tax doesn't apply to pensioners, but I am a war pensioner.
"Even if we wanted to go to a one-bedroom place, the council hasn't got one for us.
"If we have to pay it, we will. But it will be hard."
Julie said: "It's a stress I could do without because of the cancer and an expense we can't afford."
The couple said they have given Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council a letter from their GP saying they need to sleep in separate rooms.
Julie said: "We spoke to the council when we got the letter about the bedroom tax.
"They weren't very sympathetic."
Councillors have helped them apply for support from the council's £93,483 discretionary fund for people facing exceptional hardship. They have yet to hear the result.
A council spokeswoman said: "The changes to Government regulations mean a working-age couple in housing association or council accommodation is only entitled to one bedroom.
"There is no discretion in the regulations for individual circumstances such as this.
"We have a great deal of sympathy with the situation this couple find themselves in."
She said the council's Discretionary Housing Payment scheme had seen a sharp increase in applications since the benefit changes.
She said: "The fund is limited and officers are prioritising people on the very lowest incomes and in the most need."
