Military spouse says husband using inhaler due to black mould in their military home
The wife of a British soldier has hit out on social media, saying the private firm responsible for maintaining their military home has failed to remove black mould and her serving husband is now using an inhaler because of asthma.
The woman, who Forces News is not naming at her request, has said the firm responsible for fixing her service family home is not doing enough to prevent the mould from spreading.
In her social media post, she says: "Got to love living in a mouldy house and getting absolutely no answers. My partner (a soldier in the British Army) is on an inhaler. DO BETTER."
A damp survey is said to have been carried out on their home nearly a month ago although she says that no repair work has been done since, and a representative from Vivo Defence Services allegedly called to say any planned remedial works would be to just clean and paint over the existing areas of mould.
This comes as David Williams, the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (MOD), confirmed that since January there have been 3,600 cases reports of damp and mould and went on to confirm that any initial assessment would likely be dealt with with a "clean and a paint".
Responding to the claims made by the spouse living with black mould in her home, a VIVO spokesperson said: "Mould and damp is a serious issue, particularly in older properties, and we are acting on reports to ensure they are dealt with as quickly as possible.
"In this instance, when the family contacted us we commissioned an independent survey, which has shown there is a leak to the roof.
"We have brought in a specialist contractor to fix this. Scaffolding is due to be put in place next week and work to fix the roof will start the following day. In addition, work to treat the mould internally is taking place this week," the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for Pinnacle Service Families responded to the claims posted online: "We're sorry for the delays faced by any families needing repairs to their homes.
"We understand their frustration and are in contact with VIVO, DIO's (the Defence Infrastructure Organisation) contractor, who are responsible for carrying out required repairs, to ensure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible.
"In recent weeks, we have substantially increased the number of staff handling calls from families and are now answering calls in 20 seconds on average."
The spokesperson added: "We also continue to work closely with the regional contractors who are responsible for carrying out repairs on all military housing to ensure we continue to improve response times and service."
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