I am vat registered and need to pay a company the vat element only from an accident claim how do i do this with a zero net figure?

Hello and welcome to the Community, glphydraulics

You can easily enter a VAT-only transaction to account for the payment. To do this, create an expense transaction with the details below:

1. Select the Payee, Payment Date and Payment account

2. On the first Category line, select an account and enter the amount as 0.01 with the 20% Standard VAT code selected

3. On the second line, select the same account, and enter the amount as a negative figure -0.01 with the Exempt VAT code selected

4. Free type the VAT amount in the VAT total box 

The total of the expense will then reflect the VAT amount. Save & close and Match to the payment in your bank if you have this connected in QuickBooks.