I didn't see this thread back in February when it was originally doing the rounds, but have just read-up.
That's an
exceptionally bad decision by HMG, of all the bad decisions I've seen. A good lawyer will have a very strong position to fight this, and based solely on my old-fashioned moral compass telling me the law is
ordinarily the champion of right over wrong, will get repayment rejected.
So to compound the Govt's crass decision, they now won't end up with
either the repayment
or the goodwill of the individual after the undoubted lengthy, expensive and bitter court battle.
