Most people turn to the web to read reviews before using a business or purchasing a product for the first time. Having a positive online presence has become increasingly important as consumers do their research before making decisions on who they want to work with and buy from.

Whilst positive reviews can be hugely beneficial for a business, in contrast, negative reviews can convince a person to avoid a business completely. Whilst most people go online and give an honest account of their experiences with a particular agent, there are a minority of reviews that contain inaccurate and sometimes, defamatory information. The effect of such negative reviews can be devastating for an agency, undermining a reputation that could have been built up over many years.

Negative reviews

With the increasingly vital role played by online reviews, agents often call upon legal experts when they want to address an unfair negative review written about their company. In a recent case, a man who left a negative review of a legal firm on TrustPilot, was ordered to pay £25,000 in libel damages. This case shows how seriously the courts take defamatory reviews.

The most important advice is to avoid acting hastily. As a business owner, anything written about your business is taken personally and it’s not surprising agents will be keen to respond promptly and set the story straight, especially if they feel the review does not give a fair account of the experience received by the customer. However, if not managed carefully, an ill-thought-out response can amplify the situation and cause more reputational damage.

Defamatory reviews can have far reaching consequences and can escalate to reach wide audiences.

The fact is, everyone has the right to post a negative review if it is a true reflection of a customers’ experience. If a negative review has been left and it is fair – perhaps standards fell below the norm and have since been corrected, it’s important to respond, addressing the issues mentioned.

However, a review may be deemed defamatory if the agent can prove that it is false and has resulted in (or is likely to cause) serious and financial damage and it causes an individual or company to have been lowered in the estimation of ‘right thinking members of society.’

The Defamation Act 2013

The Defamation Act 2013 allows a website operator to be liable for the defamation comments of its users. There is no cap on the level of damages that can be awarded for such a case with the amount largely depending on the financial loss suffered as a result of the review.

If you see a defamatory review about your agency on a review website, the first thing you can do is send a notice of complaint and take down letter to the review website. This gives the website 48 hours to acknowledge the letter and contact the person who posted the review. The website operator must remove the post if the person who posted the review does not respond within five days.

If the person who wrote the post responds in compliance with the regulations and consents to the website operator disclosing their details to the company, then they must do so, and the company is then free to pursue the reviewer for damages. If the person who posted the review responds but their response does not comply with the regulations, then the website operator must remove the post.

Anonymous posts

Unfortunately, there are thousands of online platforms where users can easily post anonymously, and this anonymity can be used to cover their tracks when making false statements online. The good news is that website operators have a duty to authenticate their users, taking more than just an email address and keeping that information so it can be passed on if necessary – if it is needed for a court proceeding, for example. If they fail to do this, they may find themselves liable for the comments made by the poster.

Defamatory reviews can have far reaching consequences and can quickly escalate, reaching wide audiences and causing extensive damage to a business and its reputation. The good news is, that there is action that can be taken. Don’t act hastily and seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity.

Kathryn Clare is a Dispute Resolution Associate at north-west law firm SAS Daniels LLP.