Three housing associations have joined a campaign to stop energy companies ripping off their poorest customers.

Downland Housing, based in Haywards Heath, Southdown Housing, based in Lewes, and Chichester-based HydeMartlet, manage thousands of properties in Sussex.

They have joined forces with 15 other national housing associations to demand that energy firms lower prices for pre-paid meter customers.

Figures accumulated by the consumer watchdog Energywatch highlight a significant difference between customers who register their accounts online and customers who pay for their gas and electricity with meters.

The latter often pay up to £300 more each year.

In addition, these households often pay up to £89 more than households who pay their bills on a quarterly basis.

The coalition of housing associations claim the tariffs unfairly penalise some of the poorest people in the region and have plunged tens of thousands of houses into fuel poverty.

The coalition is trying to force the energy giants to charge their prepayment meter customers the same rates as those paying their bills quarterly.

The National Housing Federation argued that the price differentials add millions of pounds to the profits of the energy companies.

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