Do I have to pay a VAT only invoice received 4 months after the service was received?

Hello, I have recently joined (Oct 23) a non-VAT registered CIC. Last week I received a chaser VAT only invoice from a company we placed a job advertisement with in May 2023. Payment was made online using a credit card and I have a receipt dated 11th May 2023. (I don't believe an invoice was issued) On the 18th September 2023 the company contacted my predecessor requesting payment of a VAT only invoice stating: "I am contacting you due to [company name] reaching there VAT freehold earlier in the year and we are having to claim the VAT on the service that we supplied you back in Feb 2023" They have also attached their VAT Registration approval letter from HMRC which is dated 17th July 2023 and confirms that they have been registered with effect from 1st February 2023. I have looked through previous topic threads on this forum for advice and have found some conflicting response so I am hoping you can give me some clear advice. Surely the company should have been charging VAT whilst awaiting VAT registration and we are under no obligation to pay this backdated VAT invoice? As a non-Vat registered community interest company we a) cannot recover this as input VAT and b) can't really afford to pay an additional £200 on a service we contracted and received over 10 months ago! A reply to a post from 11 months ago by HMRC Admin 10 states "there would be no legal requirement to pay the VAT on these invoices as VAT should have been charged at the time of supply" Please can confirm that this applies in my scenario too before I respond to the supplier. Many thanks

Hi,

A business which is VAT registered and making taxable supplies are required to charge VAT and account for the VAT to HMRC.
If your supplier was waiting for their VAT number to be issued by HMRC then they should have been have charging VAT during this time and there is guidance for suppliers who are in this situation.

Please see the guidance below:

Who should register for VAT (VAT Notice 700/1): 5. Accounting for VAT

As they provided a service to you with a tax point after their Registration date they are required to account for the VAT on this supply.

However the decision as to whether you make this additional payment is your decision.HMRC only require the VAT to be accounted for by the supplier and so the requirement to pay the supplier will be a dispute between your supplier and yourself.

Thank you.