BM,
Ah not quite so my little furry rodentesque no longer sunning himself friend.
That Met Cd proving useful yet
What you have to do is speak nicely to an accountant and create a limited company where you plan to act as a self employed pilot.
You then ask the VAt people nicely to allow you to become VAT registered before completion of training and the subsequent start of trading.
I waited till after all the ATPL's were passed ( as you will need to show you are serious and doing more then is simply required for a ppl) and most of the hours building was done. You can only claim back 12 months so I didn't get it all but did get most of it.
VAT peeps are wary as this has been abused before, but I found no real problems and forms are straight forward - even by heli pilot standards!
Fill in a from to claim VAT back every three months. C+E reserve the right (Ie WILL) to claim back any repayments should you fly straight into a job and then never trade as self employed.
Have even carried on the claiming for the hours building and course costs towards the Instructors rating with no problems.
FW