To not want to pay this tradesman twice for the work.

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A tradesman came to my house and did some work for me.

When I received his invoice, I paid him using my online banking straight away as he was a saved recipient on my banking (from a year ago when he did previous work). A month or so later he emailed to say that he had not received payment.

It turns out that the banking details were different and the invoice did have the new details on there (therefore I do know it was my mistake). However, when I popped to the bank, they said they cannot recover my money as it has already gone through and that the beneficiary (my tradesman) has already received it. He says the account is closed and that he cannot access it. What should I do? It’s £150 and I really don’t want to pay it twice.

I always send the princely sum of £1 even if I have paid the tradesman in the past. I ask them for confirmation of receipt and only then pay the remainder. I know it's too late for you OP but I think it's important to remind people how easy it is to make a mistake.

He's not "trying his luck" FFS!!
You made the mistake. He provided you with payment details and you chose not to check it, causing you to pay into the wrong account. You can't possibly think it's OK to leave a tradesman without pay for work he's done?

Pay him and then chase up bank for proof other account is active and take it up with your workman thereafter. If by any chance there has been an oversight on his or the banks bdhalf you can get to the bottom of it fairly.

This.
you need the bank to put something in writing confirming he has received the money, and show it to him.

Like putting the correct account details on the invoice you mean?

I agree. Whether he's lieing about the accounts or not (or fibbing because it's none of your business) you have not paid him for the work done as he's asked you to. The mistake is yours. They are two different transactions and cannot be related legally.

I'd guess he's overdrawn/in a financial pickle so might not even have access to that money. Is he a sole trader or limited company. Have a snoop and see if there are signs. Depending on how confident you are I'd suggest telling him you cannot pay till the money is returned. I doubt he'll take you to court.

But she DID pay him. Into his own account, which is not closed, despite him claiming it is. The bank has confirmed that the money has gone to him, in his own account.

The fact that he would have preferred it in a different account is beside the point. She doesn't need to pay him twice over.

People still telling OP to pay/not pay need to RTFT.

Did he give you the correct account details at the time or wait until a month or so later to give them to you in the invoice?
It seems odd that if he updated/changed his details and didn't give them to you the time the work was carried out, waited months and claimed you didn't pay..

If he has had to close an account under an iva or similar it’s possible the account isn’t actually closed but that he can’t access this. In my experience he will have had to change bank.
or for example he previously has a joint account but has been removed the payment will have been accepted but he won’t have access…

I’d say you have to pay him as you put it in the wrong bank which isn’t his fault.
but I would get a letter from him confirming that the accounts closed and use that to get my money back

I would not put too much effort into keeping him onside. Fraid I think that money is well and truly gone. Toward his debts.... I don't actually think this is all your fault. If it was a simple closed account the amount would be forwarded on to the account he switched to, or would bounce back to you. He will know this. He has essentially lied to you because he knows people generally won't employ or recommend tradespersons who have gone bankrupt. Because they often take clients' money with them, or are bad businesspeople.

I disagree. That could be a joint account(with his now ex), a savings account, a personal account that's overdrawn etc. If I asked for cash or a bank transfer and someone said they'd given an envelope with cash to my husband they haven't paid me. Likewise if they pay my gym membership. They haven't paid as agreed. They're 2 different matters.

I haven't worked in banking for nearly 15 years but I'm sure closed account numbers were not reallocated immediately if at all. If money was paid into a closed account it would sit in an internal sundry account until requested and proved and it would then be transferred into the correct active account. If it was from a third party who raised a claim then the money would be sent back to the internal sundry account of the bank where the money was sent from before being put back in the original account. If the account number/sort code was incorrect and no account ever existed then it would bounce back immediately to the sending bank internal sundry account.

I don't think you have to pay him twice. It's been paid into an account that he can't access but it has been paid into his account that belongs to him.

It's worth clarifying why he can't access it with the bank. If it's because it has gone to his creditors, then he has still had it.

At the very least I would pop in to see citizens advice, because I think this guy is chancing his arm.

You should post this in Legal Matters rather than AIBU.
None of you is unreasonable really, but as it was your mistake you should do your best to resolve this. I assume from your post that you have been talking to your bank, but they are probably not the one who can resolve this unless they are willing to help. If the payment went through then it's the receiving bank that holds the money, maybe in a holding account or similar of the tradesman account was indeed closed. It's the tradesman that needs to call his bank, or your bank can investigate, I don't think they would share any info with you as your not the account holder.