A PAIR of penny-wise pensioners in Mottingham are battling a housing association which they say has been overcharging their block of flats for a decade.

Leaseholder Alan Best and his neighbour Stan Parish, of Everest Court, say they have never had an accurate service charge bill from Broomleigh Housing Association in its 10-year history.

They say accounting errors could mean hundreds of thousands of pounds have been paid out by unsuspecting homeowners over the years.

Every time they get a bill, the pair query charges for repairs on rented properties, or work not carried out.

Charges are estimated in April and

finalised on an "actual service charge" bill in October, leaving residents with about £300 each to pay.

Last year, Broomleigh wrote off a total of £1,500, which the 10 leaseholders in the 18-flat block refused to pay.

Mr Best, 72, has called on Broomleigh bosses to "get their act together" and has written to operations director Neil McCall.

He said: "I can't believe it's been going on for so long. It's absolutely disgraceful they can't get it right. There must be people who don't question the charges when they get them and have been forking out thousands."

They have been fighting Broomleigh since 1992 and are warning other leaseholders to check all their service bills.

Mr Parish, 76, said: "Broomleigh always goes on about winning awards for customer service. There's never any explanation or apology for the mistakes. If Broomleigh wants money off us we get letters threatening legal action."

A spokesman for the housing association confirmed head of property management Chris Baines would be contacting Mr Best this week.

She added: "We thank the leaseholders for bringing this to our attention. Sometimes mistakes do appear and for this we can only apologise.

"We do check details and are constantly seeking to improve our service."