Aunt won't refund money

There are bylaws about rentals in Australia just as in the UK. I don't know what State you are in but you can google the state authorities. I think renting out a property in that state is probably against regulations. That might sway the aunt?

It is a red herring. The aunt is completely and utterly unreasonable and out of line. She should be accused of being a selfish cheap skate. Nobody should be staying or paying in a property that filled with black mould. Accusing her of giving a child pneumonia due to her negligence is quite another matter - and needs confirmation before stating that as fact.

Why are people still arguing about whether the mould caused the pneumonia🤣
is it really ok to charge a relative and expect them to stay in a property that has that bad of a mould problem?
would anybody really be happy to be staying there???

Anyone can claim to be anything. You can google if you want to establish basic facts such as;
Fungal pneumonia is very rare in the otherwise non-immunocompromised population. However, is it very much possible for an otherwise healthy individual to develop fungal pneuma.
The doctor can suggest a diagnosis on symptoms.
To confirm the type of fungus and actually confirm it wasn’t bacterial or viral, you need a culture and it is not possible to have a culture back in that time.

If you post what you claim are medical facts, you need to state your qualifications to back that up.

What's your relationship with your Aunt like usually? Are you close to her or do you just keep in touch when you're due to book the holiday?
Call her bluff by telling her the hospital are asking you the details of the rental you were staying in as your DD illness was caused by rising damp & mould. Tell her that you don't want her getting into any trouble for renting a property she knew wasn't fit for purpose so won't pass on the information or her details. Then in the next breath ask her when she will be returning the money paid for the nights you have been unable to stay there because of the unhealthy state of the place. If she won't budge & give a refund then there's not really a lot you can do other than never book with her again & blank her from now n. She obvs doesn't care about your DD health or any of you if she knew about the problem & still let you book up.

Wow.
Have some guilt.

There would have to be some kind of contract or agreement between the family members for it to be considered in court.

Why did you stay so long that your daughter ended up ill? Why let her sleep in that place at all!? I don't understand why you neglected to remove your child from an unsanitary and uninhabitable house and fly home, instead of waiting for somewhere else!? I'm really confused....

You don't choose your family.

Tough lesson to learn... expect karma to get her any day soon...

I hope your DCs are all OK and your DD fully recovers. X

Pneumonia can be caused by fungi, so I guess this is what you mean. I hope your DD gets well very quickly.

There are three types of pneumonia - viral, bacterial and fungal. So quite possibly that is how she got it. Blood tests and sputum sample could help identify if this was the case.

No help for the past, I'm afraid - she's made her position clear that she doesn't give a damn.

Going forward? Cut her out of your life. Who needs relatives like this?

You can. The bacteria can cause the pneumonia. It’s actually happened to me before too

Appalling behavior on your aunt's part. I can't believe she didn't tell you. I'd never speak to her again. Could small claims court help you? Obviously if you have paid money for goods & services which weren't delivered you may be entitled to some compensation/refund.

That's horrible. It reminds me of the council house I grew up in in England. Me and my sisters were constantly ill. They would just paint over it and it came back within a month or so.

TBH even if this is all true, there's really no good reason for letting someone stay in a place with black mould and then refusing them a refund when they decide they can't risk staying longer.

I missed the bit where I said ”rich people are the worst”

If you have got health insurance you’re covered with that, I would suggest you look at small claims, but know that it’ll lob a grenade into your family.

mind you, your dd getting pneumonia due to the mould is not going to help with family harmony either.

do what you feel is best, there is no positive way out of this, get home, make sure dd is well and then decide what to do. Making decisions like this now, in the heat of the moment won’t achieve anything

leave the aunt for now, you can come back to that when you’re back.

What are your medical qualifications?

Exactly why I’d like to hear from Aunty. OP of course always left the house better than at arrival, left Aunty a generous gift and is without any faults! Of course, also an expert on the rental market and hardly gets any discount.
OP best tenant ever.
Must be a reason for Aunty other than ”rich people are the worst”

You do know mumsnet is not just a bunch of sahm’s with no qualifications, right? That many experts and professionals across the board are on here?

Mumsnet is full of respiratory specialists, apparently.

How strange!

Perhaps accept the diagnosis of an actual doctor and stop speculating. My goodness.

Your aunt has behaved appallingly. I don't think you have much recourse to get your money back, though.

The problem is you can't claim it was uninhabitable because you stayed in it for a week. If it was uninhabitable you would have found a way to leave immediately.

It's not the OP's fault and she shouldn't have to put up with black mould even if the aunt has been scammed.
And what 'years of generosity'? She says she pays slightly less than the going rate but by no means gets it cheap.
If the OP has cost her with prior damage why hasn't she spoken up about it before, like an adult?
If she's tired of making her house available 'for not enough money' (debatable) then, again like an adult, she could have made that decision at any point and conveyed it to the family.