Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018

63 Liability for assistance given in error

(1) An individual is liable to pay the Scottish Ministers the value of any assistance that was given to the individual due to an error (but see section 64).

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, the individual’s liability under subsection (1) is limited to the difference in value between—

(a) the assistance that was given, and

(b) the assistance (if any) that would have been given had the error not been made.

(3) If the assistance was given in a form other than money, its value for the purposes of this section is what giving it cost the Scottish Ministers (excluding any administration costs).

(4) In this section and section 64, references to an error are to—

(a) an error in the performance of a function conferred by virtue of this Part, including a decision under section 50(1) being made—

(i) wrongly, or

(ii) correctly but on the basis of—

(A) incorrect information, or

(B) an assumption which proves to be wrong,

(b) a new decision under section 50(1) not being made after an assumption on the basis of which an earlier decision was made has proved to be wrong.