What happens to reviews when an adviser moves firms?
VouchedFor has always collected reviews at the individual level. We know that this is important to consumers as it drives complete transparency on an adviser’s total track record.
In recent years we've added firm level profiles and more firm level features as well. These are designed to showcase reviews for all the advisers at the firm. Previously, the adviser would keep the reviews but they would disappear from their old firm profile when an adviser left the firm.
As of July 2021, we now enable firms to keep reviews for advisers who have left, on the firm profile. However, they are clearly labelled as a being for an adviser who has now left the firm.
From the adviser’s perspective, there is no change to keeping reviews. As an adviser, you can keep your reviews when you move firms and continue to build on them. However, we now display a message on your profile to let consumers know that your reviews were gathered at more than one firm.
When an adviser leaves a firm, they must notify VouchedFor so we can complete our checks based on their new firm information. Please note that some advisers may choose to entirely shut down their VouchedFor account and not keep their membership. Equally, VouchedFor may at it’s discretion choose to deactivate an account in line with our terms and conditions. In these cases the reviews will not be displayed anywhere on VouchedFor.
The firm's overall review rating will be based on verified reviews which are not firm-allocated for all current professionals as well as the verified reviews which are firm-allocated.
In summary:
For any adviser who has changed firm, their old reviews from the previous firm:
- Will stay on the adviser’s profile, but mention they were gathered while the adviser was at a different firm
- Will not show on their new firm’s profile
- Will show on the old firm’s profile, but mention the adviser has now left
