Unexpected payment into client's bank account

Unexpected payment into client's bank account

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One of my clients received an unexpected payment of £3,000 into their business bank account last March (2022) which they presumed was some kind of Covid support grant and didn't question at the time. 

The reference on the bank statement is 'Family Fund Tradin' 

My client has no idea where this payment has come from and is struggling to find any information that might help to explain the origin of this money. 

Anyone got any ideas what this might be  ?? 

 

 

 

Replies (17)

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JCACE
By jcace
13th Jan 2023 18:04

Family Fund Trading, now re-named Family Fund Business Services, provides the UK’s leading business-to-business fulfilment service; helping our customers access thousands of products and services in one place, sharing our discounts and supporting you to extend your reach.

Our business is fundamentally underpinned by the grant making expertise of our parent charity, so we are aligning our brands, building on our values and helping raise the profile of our group and the services we provide to families raising disabled or seriously ill children.

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Replying to jcace:
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By L Haldane
13th Jan 2023 18:09

Yes, I did find the same thing on Google, but my client runs a barbers shop so this doesn't make sense ...........???

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Replying to L Haldane:
JCACE
By jcace
13th Jan 2023 18:24

Does your client have any disabled or seriously ill children perhaps? None of my business, but that would appear to be the requirement to be eligible for grants, along with low income.

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Replying to jcace:
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By L Haldane
13th Jan 2023 18:28

No nothing like that to link my client to this charity.

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Replying to jcace:
RLI
By lionofludesch
13th Jan 2023 18:10

jcace wrote:

Family Fund Trading, now re-named Family Fund Business Services, provides the UK’s leading business-to-business fulfilment service; helping our customers access thousands of products and services in one place, sharing our discounts and supporting you to extend your reach.

Our business is fundamentally underpinned by the grant making expertise of our parent charity, so we are aligning our brands, building on our values and helping raise the profile of our group and the services we provide to families raising disabled or seriously ill children.

Your customers ? Maybe you're in a great position to help identify the money.

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By Leywood
13th Jan 2023 18:08

Google 'Family Fund Tradin'

Your client can phone them. Plus repay them obviously if its wrong.

Leaves a bad taste that they didnt bother back in March.

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Replying to Leywood:
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By L Haldane
13th Jan 2023 18:15

Our local Council was chucking all sorts of grants around last year, and several of my clients with retail premises received unexpected grant payments with no paperwork on the back of previous grant claims made at the height of the pandemic lock down.

My client genuinely thought this money had come from the Council until I quizzed him on the source of this payment now that I am preparing his annual accounts.

I have no doubt he will return it once we discover where it has come from.

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Replying to L Haldane:
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By Hugo Fair
13th Jan 2023 19:08

Maybe now that client knows that this is grant money from a charity intended to support families raising disabled, or seriously ill, children who are living on a low income ... a bit of pro-active effort could be put into resolving the situation?

A first port of call - according to https://www.familyfund.org.uk/pages/faqs/category/family-fund-helpline - would seem to be to call the charity.

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By ABC12
14th Jan 2023 07:15

Posters above found where it was from in a matter of seconds from a Google search. Methinks your client doth protest too much and knew very well it wasn't a grant

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By Roland195
14th Jan 2023 08:40

Occam's Razor would suggest that it's more likely this is a grant your client actively claimed rather than a banking error and is now playing dumb.

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By mumpin
14th Jan 2023 09:06

I had exactly the same thing with a client but I think for £2k
She couldn't remember applying for it but got plenty of Council covid support as her hairdressers salon couldnt open.
I swithered over whether to put it on her tax return but decided not to.
She has kids but none are disabled as far as I know.
I don't see her as the sort who would make a false claim to a charity.

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By Catherine Newman
14th Jan 2023 09:14

I believe a large town's Borough Council in Gloucestershire were paying out grants without them being claimed. I put them on two clients' returns.

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Replying to Catherine Newman:
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By paulwakefield1
16th Jan 2023 09:00

Random clients or ones who received the grants? :-)

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By L Haldane
16th Jan 2023 14:18

My client has now traced the source of the £3K bank lodgement to a Scottish Government ‘ Close Contact Services Fund’ grant.

This Scottish Government grant was specifically for business registered as one of the following :
• beauty service
• hairdressing and hair removal service
• spa and wellness service

It says on the Government web page that The Close Contact Services Fund was administered by a delivery partner on behalf of the Scottish Government.

My client submitted a proper claim for this grant and whilst it is annoying that they didn’t recall this claim when I initially asked them to confirm the source of the £3k , let this be a lesson to those of you who were too quick to conclude that the money came from the children’s charity and cutting in your remarks.

Mumpin, as your client was also in the hairdressing business I believe you may now need to revisit your client’s tax return.

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Replying to L Haldane:
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By Hugo Fair
16th Jan 2023 16:12

Actually I'm now more confused than before ...

1. There's no obvious connection between "Family Fund Trading" and the "Scottish Government ‘Close Contact Services Fund’ grant" ... so why would the latter reference a payment as being from the former?
2. According to https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-mobile-and-home-b... ... the grant at various stages was either £4k or £2k (not £3k)?
3. You previously mentioned "retail premises" whereas this grant specifically says it is for "for owners and operators of mobile and home-based close contact service businesses (and for registered driving instructors) in Scotland".

Are you happy that your client has now found the relevant supporting paperwork?

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By L Haldane
17th Jan 2023 10:19

Hugo, I thank you for your reply but the guidance you seek to refer me to does not relate to the grant my client claimed.

Here is the correct link to the grant in question :
www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-funding/close-co...

and, as you will see, this particular Government Fund was set up to provide support to businesses in the close contact service sectors who own/rent premises with a non-domestic rates account, so I can assure you that my client was entitled to claim this grant.

I have no idea why the Scottish Government used Family Fund Trading as their 'delivery partner' for this particular grant. All I can tell you is that the facts confirm that they did.

As was suggested by several contributors to this posting, my client contacted Family Fund Trading directly to confirm the origin of the money paid into their business bank account, and the reply they received confirmed the remittance as 'a payment from the Scottish Government for the Close Contact fund you applied for'.

I am therefore now entirely happy that my client has sufficient documentation to confirm the source of this money and their legitimacy in retaining it for the purposes of their business.

Thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this posting. I believe we all have something to learn from it .......

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Replying to L Haldane:
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By mumpin
16th Jan 2023 18:33

Thats really helpful Halders, thanks for your diligence.
You rise above the snipey nit-pickers on this board like a beacon of something or other.

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