This article argues that for many years the official practice in relation to the recovery of overpaid social welfare benefits did not coincide with the legal rules in this area, i.e. overpayments were assessed against claimants and repayment of money was sought where there was no legal obligation on the claimant to repay the benefit. The implications of this practice in two areas are discussed: first, why such a divergence between the legal rules and the official practice can arise in the area of social welfare administration, and secondly, the meaning of ‘the law’ from a sociological point of view in the light of this case study.
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