Mediation Complaints Policy
Our mediators are members of the Family Mediation Council (FMC) and adhere to the high standards expected of them under the FMC Code of Practice and the FMC Manual of Professional Standards and Self-Regulatory Framework which can be found at:
https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/us/code-practice/
Our mediators are also members of the Family Mediators Association and are committed to providing you with the best mediation service for you and your family. When something goes wrong, we want you to let us know. Please feel free to contact your mediator by telephone or by email if you want to discuss any aspect of our service.
If you are dissatisfied, this policy explains how to raise any concerns or make a complaint.
Professional Standards and Complaints
We follow the FMC’s complaints procedure, under which the Family Mediation Standards Board deals with any complaints which we have not been able to resolve satisfactorily with you under the internal processes set out in this policy.
The FMC will consider complaints that concern breaches of the Code of Practice or Standards Framework referred to above that occurred within three months of the last mediation session or intake/assessment meeting. For the avoidance of doubt, for complaints that relate to the way a mediation was concluded as a whole, the date the three months runs from is from the last mediation session.
The FMC’s complaints procedure can be found here:
https://familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaints-about-mediators
Who can complain?
Complaints can be made by current or former clients (including persons attending mediation and information assessment meetings or other initial consultations) or a qualifying third party.
The following persons qualify as third parties who can make a complaint about a mediator:
prospective clients who consider they have been directly affected by a mediator’s professional behaviour; and
those who have been invited to participate in a mediation, for example another professional who attends a mediation.
You can find out more information about what this means at:
https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaints-about-mediators
Please note that neither mediators nor the FMSB will be able to disclose any information to third parties that is confidential between the mediator and the mediation participant(s). It is therefore normal that as a third party, you will only receive a limited amount of information in response to your complaint, even in circumstances where it is considered by the FMSB.
What cannot form the subject of a complaint?
For the avoidance of doubt, it is common for a mediator to contact a potential mediation participant after seeing the other potential mediation participant. Complaints about a mediator making contact with a potential participant do not therefore need to be investigated by mediators and will not be accepted by the FMSB.
Likewise, mediators may sign court forms to say one person has attended a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) without notifying a potential second mediation participant or inviting them to attend a MIAM themselves. Complaints about a mediator not making contact with a potential participant do not therefore need to be investigated by mediators and will not be accepted by the FMSB.
Complaints that appear to be vexatious or of a purely personal nature do not have to be investigated by mediators (please see the FMC’s complaints policy for further information).
What to do if you have a complaint
We encourage you to contact your mediator directly by email or telephone. If you do not hear back from us within the timescales set out below, please do try to contact our office by telephone on +44(0)20 7242 6000 or by email to enquiries@rmfamilylaw.co.uk to ensure that we received the complaint. We hope that, in most cases, a conversation between us will be sufficient to set minds at rest. All complaints that are within the scope of this policy will be:
acknowledged by email, typically within 72 hours of receipt but in any event by no later than 10 working days of receipt; and
investigated and responded to within 30 working days of receipt. On occasions, further time may be required and if that is the case we will notify you by email.
As part of our investigation into any complaint, please note that every qualified mediator recognised by the FMC is required to have a Professional Practice Consultant (PPC), who provides the mediator with support and guidance. We are required to inform our PPC about any complaint and send copies of all correspondence relating to the complaint to our PPC within 7 days of receiving the complaint in writing (or as soon as reasonably practicable). Your complaint will be investigated by (i) the mediator concerned and (ii) the mediator’s PPC.
In seeking to resolve any complaint, we will usually offer a meeting with you and will always consider doing so. Any meeting concerning your complaint may include the mediator concerned and our PPC. Written records of any meeting and discussions must be kept on both the case file and our own professional files.
If we receive a complaint from one mediation participant, please bear in mind that we will usually inform the other mediation participant that a complaint has been made. We must do this if a professional adviser we have consulted about the complaint (normally our PPC) considers that the other person needs to be informed.
What to do if you are not satisfied with the response you receive to your complaint
If both you and your mediator agree, it is possible for your complaint to be mediated by an independent mediator not known to either of you.
Or you may make a formal complaint to the Family Mediation Standards Board if the complaint involves a breach of the FMC Code of Practice which occurred within three months of the last mediation session or intake/assessment meeting. A complaint can be made to the Family Mediation Standards Board by completing the complaints form which is downloadable at:
https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaints-about-mediators