Aunt won't refund money

[Casals07]

Aunt has a home abroad that myself, DH and kids go to every year. We go in August as it's too hot for Aunt to go. I pay to stay there and always take care of the place and top everything up before I leave. The house is now 20 years old and is definitely showing signs of wear and tear. Nothing has been replaced. This year I arrived to find black mould in the bedrooms, job had been started but won't be finished until November. My Aunt never informed me of this. My DD has now got pneumonia and we have had to move out at a considerable expense. My Aunt has refused to return any of my text messages. My DH rang her and asked for the money back we paid as the house is not habitable. She has point blank refused.

Mould CAN trigger your existing asthma, it can't give it to you.
However, it doesn't matter really as whether it made her son ill or not Op shouldn't have been expected to put up with a mouldy house like that on holiday

So you agree with me.

It was a week. No healthy person can get asthma then pneumonia within a week from mould. It’s simply not possible

Would like to hear Aunty side of the story.
Perhaps she is being ripped off by local builder and the repair had looked ok, or the builder says it takes a week to “cure” - maybe she is scammed?
Maybe she doesn’t feel you owes you anything after years of generosity?

Maybe she has fungal illness too and not coping.

Maybe doesn’t want to return money because you cost her with prior damage? Maybe there’s a MN from last summer where she thinks you are CF?

Maybe she is just tired of making her house available, for not enough money.

It was 2 weeks. No house can get that level of mould within 2 weeks. It’s simply not possible.

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.

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.

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

Mumsnet is full of respiratory specialists, apparently.

How strange!

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

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?

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”

What are your medical qualifications?

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.

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”

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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

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....

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

Wow.
Have some guilt.

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.