Gas engineer wants me to pay the deposit into his personal account.

[wishingstar]

Hi, I had a gas engineer give me a quote for a new combi boiler we have agreed to the price. He has asked that 2 thirds of the total sum be paid upfront as the deposit.
He sent through the bank details but as I looked further it is his personal account.
I told him the bank had advised me it wasn't his business account.
Gas fitter has now told me the bank had advised him to tell customers to pay into personal acc until his hacked business account is sorted.
My question is, would a bank advise this?
If I pay this money into his personal account do I still have any legal standing if things go wrong?
Many thanks for your help.

[atticus]

Who does this engineer work for? Is it his own company?

[wishingstar]

Thank you Atticus, yes it is his own company. He has only been going for a few months, I have checked his social media etc and he looks all legit. However I was a little surprised when I tried to send the deposit across and I realised then before I e.mailed him that it was his personal account. Would a bank advise a customer pays into his personal account upon a unfortunate hacking of his account?

[atticus]

The excuse strikes me as implausible.

[sandfordboy]

Any chance of a Credit card payment ?