Need some legal advice on vat and invoices

[olaflikeswarmhugs]

I booked a private function which included hall hire and catering . I picked the cheapest catering option for 80 people . I was sent a booking form with the quote on it . It said

Hall hire x
People x
£pp x
Vat x
Total x

I assumed the vat was included in the price pp it didn't occur to me to do the maths .

Anyway I couldn't afford that so we played about with our numbers to make it more affordable . Meanwhile the company changed the buffet and prices twice so eventually we agreed on a buffet price and numbers but I was never sent another booking form .

I got my bill in last week and nearly fainted when it was nearly £100 more than I expected due to the vat being added on .

Is it my own stupid fault for not realising that the vat wasn't included ? I feel like such an idiot it's now more than I can afford to pay

I would be normal for the item price per person to be Ex-VAT, then VAT listed individually, but the total price should include VAT.
This reflects the price of the service and that VAT is additional amount that the company has no control over.

Did any of the original paper work say the prices excluded vat?

Most prices exclude vat on a quote, and it's shown separately. Can you ask for time to pay?

From the information you've quoted it seems they've shown the cost per person then added on VAT to arrive at the total. If that is the case it should have been obvious that the price per person did not include VAT. Sorry.