Invoices in your builder's name aren't always lost
A common situation, and one most self-builders write off without checking.
The situation
Your bricklayer orders blocks on his trade account because the price is better. The invoice comes out in his name. You pay him for the materials. Two years later you're staring at a pile of invoices addressed to someone else.
Why it isn't automatically fatal
HMRC's internal guidance contemplates genuine agency arrangements — where someone bought on your behalf, and you actually paid for the goods and the VAT. Whether one exists is a question of fact and evidence in each case, not a box to tick.
This is where a lot of money quietly disappears. On a build where the groundworker and bricklayer both ordered through their own accounts, it can run well into five figures.
What helps
Evidence that you paid: bank transfers to the account holder matching the invoice amounts. A short signed letter from them confirming they bought on your behalf, that you reimbursed them in full including VAT, that the goods went to your site, and that they haven't reclaimed the VAT themselves.
Better still, ask the merchant to reissue in your name. Some will, especially if the invoice is recent.
What to do differently from here
Where you can, open your own accounts and order directly. Where you can't, keep the paper trail as you go — a bank transfer with a clear reference at the time is worth far more than a reconstruction two years later.
This is general information about published guidance, not advice on your situation. If a meaningful part of your claim rests on invoices in someone else's name, get it looked at properly before you submit.