Family Mediator Terms and Conditions

1. Status and service provider

This page provides general information about the Family Mediator website and service enquiries. Reading it does not make a booking or create an agreement to mediate. Ask for the applicable service terms before agreeing to an appointment.

Before agreeing to a service, make sure you understand who will provide it and which terms apply to your appointment.

2. Nature of the service

The services described here concern discussions about child arrangements, financial matters and practical issues following separation. Online and shuttle formats are described, subject to suitability and the arrangements for the individual case.

The mediator facilitates discussion and does not decide the outcome for participants. Mediation is voluntary and does not guarantee an agreement.

It helps to distinguish the subject of a dispute from the service being arranged. Asking about the family home does not establish that the provider will value it, negotiate with a lender or prepare a court order. Asking about child arrangements does not establish that a child will attend a meeting. The scope of the particular appointment needs to be clear before it is accepted. If another professional's work may be needed, clarify whether you would arrange and pay for that separately rather than assuming it is included.

3. Information and independent advice

The website provides general information. It does not provide individual legal or financial advice. Participants may need independent professional advice about proposed arrangements.

Financial proposals reached in mediation are not automatically legally binding. Further legal steps, including court approval where applicable, may be needed. No outcome in court is promised.

An option discussed in a meeting can raise questions outside the mediator's role. A possible change to housing may need a legal explanation, an affordability assessment or a lender's decision; a pension proposal may need specialist advice. These examples are questions to identify, not recommendations about what anyone should accept. A useful distinction is whether a document records an option for consideration, an intention to seek advice or a final arrangement. Its title alone should not be relied on to establish its legal effect.

4. Enquiries and appointments

This website provides a telephone link and information about the first meeting. It has no booking calendar or payment checkout. Viewing a page or selecting a telephone link does not confirm an appointment.

Visitors are asked to confirm appointment details directly before making arrangements.

Before relying on an appointment, check the particular service being offered, the people expected to attend and whether the date is provisional or confirmed. Keep the confirmation and the version of any terms supplied with it. If the information given by telephone differs from a written document, ask for the difference to be resolved before making a commitment. Ask what action confirms your acceptance and make sure you understand any commitment before proceeding.

5. Fees and payment

A fee schedule is not listed on this page. Visitors should ask for the full cost and what it covers before agreeing to a meeting. No discount, voucher entitlement or funding decision is made by this website.

A useful cost explanation separates the first meeting from any later work. For example, a quotation might need to explain whether it covers an individual assessment, a session involving both participants or preparation of a document. Those are examples of distinctions to clarify, not a statement that this provider charges for each item. Check whether the quoted amount is the total for everyone or the amount payable by one person, and whether taxes are included. Do not assume a further charge is agreed merely because an additional topic arises.

6. Changes, cancellations and refunds

Ask for the cancellation and refund arrangements before agreeing to an appointment. This page does not specify a notice period, cancellation charge or loss of payment.

There is a difference between changing your mind before an appointment, being unable to attend and saying that an agreed service was not provided as described. Those circumstances may raise different questions about cancellation, payment or remedies. The applicable service terms should address the actual service and applicable rights, without suggesting that a business rule overrides them. If a date needs to change, ask how to communicate that request and obtain clarification about the response. This page does not authorise a charge or establish that a refund is due in any individual case.

7. Privacy and participation

Confidentiality has limits, including legal and safeguarding obligations. The applicable arrangements need to be explained before mediation begins. Read the Privacy Policy for information about this website and privacy enquiries.

Privacy of a meeting, protection of personal data and the use of information in legal proceedings are related but different matters. A general statement that mediation is confidential cannot explain every limit. Ask the mediator to explain the distinction between confidential mediation communications and factual financial information supplied on an open basis. Ask how the distinction applies to the information or document you are considering sharing. The provider's explanation should be understood before participation; this page does not promise that everything said or provided is protected from disclosure.

8. Questions and complaints

For general enquiries, call 0330 010 0028. Ask how to raise a service concern and what response process applies.

If you raise a concern, identify the appointment or communication involved, explain what you believe went wrong and state what you would like considered. A short chronology and relevant records may be more useful than a full account of the family dispute. Keep the service complaint separate from disagreement with the other participant's position or an unsuccessful mediation outcome. This guidance does not establish the provider's complaint procedure or decide whether a complaint is justified. Use the telephone enquiry route and ask how supporting information should be supplied.

9. Service-specific terms

Service-specific contractual provisions should be supplied and explained by the provider before an agreement is made. Website use alone is not presented here as acceptance of a service contract.

10. Communications and documents

Use the telephone enquiry route to ask how appointment confirmations, mediation documents, written summaries or notices will be sent and received. Check how to communicate a change and how receipt will be confirmed.

11. Participation and conduct

Mediation requires people to be able to consider information and participate voluntarily. This page does not create behavioural rules, exclude participants or set consequences for conduct. Any participation expectations should be explained before an agreement to mediate is made and applied fairly.

12. Notes, outcomes and records

A meeting may identify options, unresolved questions or proposals, but the legal effect of any document depends on its content and the applicable process. This page does not describe what notes are created, who receives them, how long they are kept or whether they constitute an agreement.

13. Accessibility and service changes

The website does not specify available adjustments, interpretation, rescheduling or what happens if a format becomes unavailable. No service level or guaranteed response time is promised on this page.

14. Consumer rights

Nothing on this page is intended to exclude or restrict a consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded. No waiver, liability limit or consumer remedy is proposed here. The applicable service terms must be consistent with the actual service and must be fair, clear and provided at the appropriate time before a contract is made.

Service standards and outcomes are different matters. A particular outcome is different from the standard of service: no agreement at the end of mediation does not by itself establish poor service, and the absence of an outcome guarantee does not remove applicable consumer rights. Whether a specific right or remedy applies depends on the facts. The applicable service terms should make the distinction understandable without imposing an unsupported waiver. Obtain independent advice if you need to understand a particular dispute.

15. Pausing or ending a service

This page does not define when a participant or provider may pause or end mediation, what notice is required, how outstanding fees are treated or what happens to documents and records. Those arrangements should be explained clearly and should not undermine voluntary participation or any applicable consumer right.

If a participant is uncertain whether a proposed term applies, the provider should give a clear explanation before asking them to agree. The applicable service terms should state which document governs the service and how a participant can obtain a copy.