£25,000 damages and injunction awarded for a defamatory Trustpilot review
27th January, 2021
A High Court ruling has given some guidance to the circumstances in which a company can make a claim when clients or customers leave an untrue, defamatory comment on a review website.
Damages of £25,000 were awarded to a law firm (the Claimant) in relation to a review that was left on Trustpilot (and which Trustpilot did not take down) by a former client, which was held to be defamatory. The judge ordered that the Defendant not only had to pay damages, but ordered the removal of the Trustpilot review, which headlined: “A total waste of money another scam solicitor” (sic).
The review had a direct impact on the Claimant’s business, which relied on online searches to generate new business. The Claimant expressed that their weekly enquiries had fallen by approximately half after the Trustpilot review was posted. Even with 66 five-star reviews, the negative comment brought down the overall review score of the firm. The judge concluded that that “a substantial number of potential clients were put off” following the review.
The Defendant had paid the Claimant a fixed fee of £200 for legal advice and signed the Claimant’s terms and conditions. In the Defendant’s review, he wrote: “Once they have your money they are totally apathetic towards you. You will learn more from forums, you tube and the Citizens advice website about your case, for free” (sic). The Defendant argued that the Claimant had simply provided generic advice, which was not tailored to his issue. The Defendant did not raise any direct concerns with the Claimant regarding the service received.
The Defendant tried to argue that the review reflected his honest opinion, public interest, that it was the truth and disputed whether the Claimant did suffer serious harm, in order to defend the claim. The judge dismissed these arguments and referred to the word ‘scam’ being used in the headline of the review, with the judge stating that this “conveyed an allegation of fraud”.
The judge concluded: “ In my judgment it is beyond any dispute that the words complained of had a clear tendency to put people off dealing with the Claimant firm. It is difficult to conclude that the defendant had any other purpose in mind when posting his review. It is a serious matter to accuse a solicitors’ firm of dishonesty and any such allegation is likely to deter those who are unfamiliar with the firm from using its services.
“Given the manner in which the claimant conducts its business I conclude that…there has therefore been a financially damaging impact for a period of at least three to four months.”
The ruling demonstrates that unfair and untrue reviews can have a profound negative impact on businesses. We are being increasingly approached about similar claims, especially now that there is a greater reliance on online platforms to conduct business. It is important to note that action can be taken both in terms of asking the review site to take down the review (where appropriate) and in the event that a business suffers loss, there may be redress available to compensate for those losses.
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Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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