VAT on expense requests by a VAT registered company

I own a flat which had a leak and caused some water damage to the flat downstairs. I have been charged an amount + VAT to fix this by the managing agent. This seems odd as the managing agent is registered for VAT, so if the pay the full amount of VAT to the decorator, they can claim it back. This means that the VAT I have paid, will effectively end up as profit by the managing agent. Does anyone know what the correct process around this should be?

Hello
If they are VAT registered they will need to account for VAT on their supply to you .

If you had to arrange the repair yourself, you would use an established contractor and they would charge you net + VAT, so the VAT sticks with you in that scenario, In your position, the managing agent is required to perform the repair, so they engage with the same contractor, contractor charges agent VAT, agent reclaims this VAT and then recharges the costs of the contractor onto you as net + VAT, as they bought in the contractor services, paid him and now recharging back to you, they are making an onward supply to you, you end up in exactly the same position as if you had hired the contractor yourself directly. Nobody is making any profit, except if the managing agent adds a small admin fee on top of the contractors fees.