Sole traders doing business - payments

[Ruprect]

Hi - quick question - I've booked a holiday cottage and have been asked to send a cheque made out to the person who runs the website, not the company.

Lets call the company NorthSouthBlah Lettings . I checked companies house webcheck and there is no company called NorthSouthBlah Lettings; my question is, if the person running NorthSouthBlah Lettings is a sole trader, would I be sending a cheque to them personally or would I be sending a cheque to NorthSouthBlah Lettings?

Seems a bit dodgy to me, so holding off on sending the cheque, but I do know people who've used them before with no problems.

[pmeswani]

Hi - quick question - I've booked a holiday cottage and have been asked to send a cheque made out to the person who runs the website, not the company.

Lets call the company NorthSouthBlah Lettings . I checked companies house webcheck and there is no company called NorthSouthBlah Lettings; my question is, if the person running NorthSouthBlah Lettings is a sole trader, would I be sending a cheque to them personally or would I be sending a cheque to NorthSouthBlah Lettings?

Seems a bit dodgy to me, so holding off on sending the cheque, but I do know people who've used them before with no problems.

There is nothing stopping me from setting up a website called "RogerRabbitSales.com" and sell personal items and requesting payment via cheque, cash, etc., as long as I am not charging VAT (without registering). I may have to declare any income made from the site to the Inland Revenue via Self Assessment.

In your case, the obligation is on the person letting out his house via Self Assessment. If the Assessment shows that the person in question is earning more than the VAT threshold / higher rate threshold, the IR could always look at reclaiming that amount from them... not you. If you believe the person is acting inappropriately, you could always report them to Inland Revenue.

[expat]

Hi - quick question - I've booked a holiday cottage and have been asked to send a cheque made out to the person who runs the website, not the company.

Lets call the company NorthSouthBlah Lettings . I checked companies house webcheck and there is no company called NorthSouthBlah Lettings; my question is, if the person running NorthSouthBlah Lettings is a sole trader, would I be sending a cheque to them personally or would I be sending a cheque to NorthSouthBlah Lettings?

Seems a bit dodgy to me, so holding off on sending the cheque, but I do know people who've used them before with no problems.

Presumably Joe Bloggs is acting as an agent for the company, or the owner.
I know that when I book my favourite holiday cottage, I send a cheque to the agent, not the owner.

But just on the question of the name NorthSouthBlah Lettings, you can not tell from Co House whether a trading name is dodgy or not. Perhaps Joe Bloggs is a sole trader, trading as NorthSouthBlah Lettings; or EastWestBlah Lettings Ltd is trading as NorthSouthBlah Lettings, either of which is kosher, depending on who is behind it. But IANAL.

[Ruprect]

Yep they are an agent - many properties.

Thanks for the advice; what's the scoop with insurance then? presumably there should be some sort of liability insurance if there is some sort of accident in the house no?