A couple who fled their home after it cracked in half following a botched basement extension are facing a bill of more than £1million over the disaster.
Ed Goldswain, 41, and his eight months pregnant fiancée Jacquie Hale, 40, escaped from their ground floor flat in Finchley, North London, as debris fell 'like something out of a disaster movie'.
The builders were found by a judge to have been 'incompetent' and ordered to pay the couple £287,000 in damages, but the firm became insolvent and the pair have never received the money.
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Collapse: The property in Finchley, North London, cracked in half following a botched basement extension
Got away: Ed Goldswain, 40, and his eight months pregnant fiancée Jacquie Hale, 41, pictured with children Ernest (left) and George (right) escaped from their flat as debris fell 'like something out of a disaster movie'
The couple, who have two young sons, still have a 23-year mortgage on the two-bedroom £345,000 flat they bought in 2011 - and Miss Hale wants to continue her legal battle over the botched works.
They were initially told to pay £318,000 for demolition works by Barnet Council, but this was then cancelled by the local authority and the freeholder of the property was billed instead.
However, Miss Hale explained that as the leaseholder, the couple had signed an indemnity that any costs faced by the freeholder must be paid by them – and so they are still facing the bill, as well as legal fees and other costs meaning their total bill will add up to £1million.
But she added: ‘The freeholder is trying to fight it because in February last year when we went to court, the judge on the advice of expert engineers said it would cost about £180,000 to rebuild the building. So for Barnet to charge over £300,000 to demolish the building is incredible.’
Miss Hale told MailOnline that the couple have launched a £60,000 crowdfunding project in an attempt to get enough money together to take the insurance company to court over the basement.
Transferring the bill: The couple were initially told to pay £300,000 for demolition works by Barnet Council, but this was then cancelled by the local authority and the freeholder of the property was billed instead
She said: ‘We've been trying to work through all the various legal routes. We feel we've got quite a strong position to take the insurance company to court. It's such a complex situation.
‘There are so many different parties, but everybody involved in it is trying to squeeze us out of it, and we're trying to look after ourselves now. The last legal option available is to take them to court.’
A council spokesman told MailOnline: ‘We initially presented a bill for the demolition costs of the property to Mr Goldswain and Ms Hale.
'However after legal advice we reissued the invoice to the freeholders and are now seeking a settlement. Mr Goldswain sent us an acknowledgement that we had cancelled this invoice.'
She added: 'The council is not pursuing Mr Goldswain and Ms Hale, specifically, to recover the costs. It is pursuing the owners.
'The definition of the owners – as outlined by the indemnity agreement - is a private matter between the leaseholders and the freeholders.'
AIMS Plumbing & Building Services were criticised by a judge following the botched work - but the firm’s owner Christopher Knott is now trading as Stone Hall Building Services, reported The Sun.
How it looks now: Barnet Council has demolished the building in North London and made the site safe
Last March Miss Hale described how, in ten or 20 seconds, cracks in the wall of the Edwardian property went from 1cm (0.4in) wide to 10cm (4in) before one side of the building fell away.
Collapse: The couple want to continue their legal battle over the £345,000 two-bedroom property
The trauma of the collapse in November 2012 caused early contractions for the pregnant investment banker and she went to hospital. The baby boy was born unharmed six weeks later.
Miss Hale and marketing manager Mr Goldswain decided to extend into the basement after buying the house in November 2011.
AIMS Plumbing & Building Services began work in September 2012, but it went wrong within two months and the couple sued.
Mr Justice Akenhead said the 'overwhelming probability' was that the builders failed to carry out the work with reasonable care and skill.
Barnet Council has demolished the building and made the site safe. And the couple have been renting while their legal battle continues.
More than two years of legal bills, mortgage payments, and rent payments for their temporary homes have left the pair hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Speaking to the Mail last year, Miss Hale said: 'You read about things like this, and think it couldn't possibly happen to you. But the thing about this is that it could have happened to anyone.'
She added: 'We realised we'd lost everything, except the clothes we were wearing, and the things we'd grabbed on the way out. I'd had a handbag, Ed had his laptop. That was it.'
Mr Knott, who has been contacted by MailOnline today, told the Mail last March when asked if he wanted to comment: 'No, I don't want to. And no, we won't be commenting in future.'
The house will feature in Britain’s Horror Homes, which starts tonight at 8pm on Channel 5
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