Can I sue MSE for the bad financial advice of its contributors?

nrsql

Sounds like the problem is that you are looking for someone to tell you what t do without paying for it.
You won't get advice here - and hopefully you won't post enough information about yourself to make advice possible (I really hope that is so).
I suspect you have confused opinion/infomation with advice - and I hope you haven't followed it.

No one knows what is going to happen so no one knows what's best to do.

For investing some will say best is
choosing sectors
balancing your portfolio
property
commodities
trackers
As much as possible as lump sum as soon as possible
monthly drip feed
pensions
ISAs
Pay off mortgage
Large cash reserve
....

All have pros and cons and only in retrospect will you know what is best.
You have to decide what you think is the best approach for yourself and won't know whether you are right until far in the future.

purch

There is a difference between offering advice and offering an opinion.

I won't give any advice as to what people should think about this thread

However my opinion is that this thread is one of the silliest and deliberately provocative I have ever had the misfortune to read.

earlgrey_3

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

Can I sue MSE for the bad financial advice of its contributors?

The straight answer is probably that until a case is tested in court then no one knows the position for sure and sometimes the courts make pretty daft decisions.

You may remember the Laurence Godfrey v Demon Internet court case back in the 90s when Demon were found liable for defamation as a result of a post to a usenet group by one of their customers. Usenet was the fore-runner of forums. Much to the amazement of most, Demon were held to be the "publishers" and therefore guilty of libel when they argued all they did was provide a service in the same way as the Post Office delivers mail. They didn't control or own usenet, just provided the servers.

The Register report from 1999: http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/03/26/demon_libel_loss_could_cripple/

Every one who registers for the MSE site agrees to the terms that include:

8. Disclaimer of warranties and liability

8.1 We provide our site in good faith but we can’t and don’t warrant the completeness, truth or accuracy of the information or other content or postings found on our site, or their usefulness for any particular purpose. You acknowledge and agree that you bear full responsibility for your own MoneySaving research and decisions and that we shall not be liable for any action that you or others take or don’t take based on your use of or reliance on information provided by us or other users of this Site.

But ultimately who knows what an old bloke in a wig who has to have what a "forum" is explained to him might decide if it came before him?

Personally, I think it's best to think of forums as being more like the saloon bar with advice available of very different qualities, both good and bad.

debbie42

Assuming it's a semi-serious question, a few thoughts spring to mind as to the ramifications if you could sue:

1) We would have no forums whatsoever
2) Forums would be overly censored, and anything that vaguely appeared to be advice would be deleted
3) Forums would be subscription only and only "certified" users could post replies.

The internet is so far reaching and anyone can post on it. Someone could theoretically set up a web page spouiting any old runnish. Oh, wait a minute, they do!
The great thing about sites such as these is that, often, when someone does post utter cr*p then others may comment on it. So it is self policing to some degree, but why should we devolve all responsibility to others?

Hmmm...I like the old adage about "This advice is worth as much as you pay for it."

butterfly72

nrsql wrote: »

Sounds like the problem is that you are looking for someone to tell you what t do without paying for it.
You won't get advice here - and hopefully you won't post enough information about yourself to make advice possible (I really hope that is so).
I suspect you have confused opinion/infomation with advice - and I hope you haven't followed it.

No one knows what is going to happen so no one knows what's best to do.

I've posted asking for advice because I'm not sure that the OH and I earn enough or have enough to bother a IFA!!! I think I would be laughed out the office! I'm sensible enough not to follow all advice given, but use it to make my own decisions (but this isn't easy you understand - its a lot to take in when you have so many options!). Just a thought... although the IFA can give me adive... wouldn't she/he have some personal opinions about certain investment types/funds etc? Why would paying for an opinion be more valid than that of someone on here who follows the markets/economy etc? Just a thought!

nearlyrich

butterfly72 wrote: »

Why would paying for an opinion be more valid than that of someone on here who follows the markets/economy etc? Just a thought!

Because when you pay for advice you are consulting a regulated professional for whom there would be penalties for giving you bad advice.

On here I ( or anyone) could offer advice based on my experience or my conjecture if you take the advice and it's not right for you you have no comeback because I am not regulated.

Lokolo

I want to know who the OP wants to sue... :T

bristolleedsfan

Lokolo wrote: »

I want to know who the OP wants to sue... :T

Today, 3:06 PM #15 dunstonh
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DD, I believe I know who you are referring to and just in case you are not aware, she is not a financial adviser and has nothing to do with financial services. I dont believe any of the professionals that contribtute to the board cross the line. However, some non-professionals do.

butterfly72

nearlyrich wrote: »

Because when you pay for advice you are consulting a regulated professional for whom there would be penalties for giving you bad advice.

I see what you are saying, but how would I know it was bad advice? Aren't they all protected by saying that investments can go up or down and you might not get your full capital back? True, if I wanted low risk and the IFA suggested high risk investments.. that would be bad advice... but surely its more complicated than that given the different types of investment out there.

nrsql

butterfly72 wrote: »

I've posted asking for advice because I'm not sure that the OH and I earn enough or have enough to bother a IFA!!! I think I would be laughed out the office! I'm sensible enough not to follow all advice given, but use it to make my own decisions (but this isn't easy you understand - its a lot to take in when you have so many options!). Just a thought... although the IFA can give me adive... wouldn't she/he have some personal opinions about certain investment types/funds etc? Why would paying for an opinion be more valid than that of someone on here who follows the markets/economy etc? Just a thought!

Why do you think an IFA would laugh you out of the office and what's the problem if he did? Any IFA should realise that even if he's not getting a big result from a client now he may do in the future and might get more business by word of mouth. Nothing to lose by trying. Remember that whoever you talk to their priority isn't to do the best for you but hopefully that would be a by product.

Problem with sites like this is that you have no idea who's posting or why they are posting. They may be trying to promote something and may say they are qualified or experienced when they are not.