Advising by PM

[atticus]

Is there a forum policy on this?

I have just had to inform a poster that I do not advise by PM, and have added a signature to state this.

Advising by PM increases risk. I wonder if any of us are insured in respect of our contributions here. I am not.

My approach is that I am happy to discuss in public, for the benefit of all who read. Before joining this place, for about 15 years I had been doing this elsewhere, in a forum that has now closed.

[EXC]

Is there a forum policy on this?

Yes and we don't want people advising by PM. It's for all the reasons others have given, plus we've historically had problems with dodgy professionals and other commercial forums touting for clients by PM.

I appreciate Des's point about there being a value in users being able to provide information that they otherwise wouldn't or couldn't in public and with that we would simply ask the more experienced members to exercise caution.

In a way I'm the worst offender in that as I openly ask users who have issues with particular companies to email me personally but that's because we have an intel gathering relationship with the regulator which has been very effective.

[des8]

The forum policy was always to discourage PMs, partly because of the possible dangers to both parties but also because it restricts the advice given.
On the open forum it is not uncommon for contrary views to be given, for corrections to inaccurate/inappropriate comments to be made.
If conversations are limited to PMs, those corrections cannot be made.

However on the other hand, some posters are reluctant to post all their details on open forum, and PMs can be useful for them to tell their story, including personal back details.
That info can then be filtered by the member who can post responses on the open forum thread for reviewe by other members.

[dslippy]

We useed to have a mantra - a poster here does not know who he is talking with - their qualifications, experience or insurance, and a replier can never know the detail he could pick up in a few minutes face to face and with the documents.

In other words, what is posted here can sometimes be very helpful, but really should not be relied upon.

[Sam101]

Same here Atticus. It may help to add to your status to say your replies are to help but cannot be relied upon legally? Best to always avoid PM.

[echat11]

It defeats the object of having a forum, so definitely not to be encouraged.