I am committed to providing a high quality family mediation service to all my clients. I welcome comments, compliments and concerns being raised with me in order to learn and improve my practice.
My policy
If you have a complaint about my practice please contact me with the details in writing.
How I handle complaints
All complaints will be acknowledged within 10 calendar days of receipt.
Complaints, including claims of breach of the Family Mediation Council’s (FMC) Codes of Practice or Standards Framework, about a matter occurring within the last three months may be made by prospective, current or former mediation clients, including persons attending mediation information and assessment meetings or other initial consultations; or by others who have been invited to either participate in a mediation process, for example another professional who attends a mediation, or by other FMC Registered Mediators, including Professional Practice Consultants (PPCs).
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 FMC’s complaints process (see below).
Complaints that appear to be vexatious or of a purely personal nature do not have to be investigated by mediators.
All complaints that are within the scope of this policy will be investigated and responded to within 30 days of receipt. If further time is required before a response can be provided you will be informed of this. Where appropriate, I will offer a further mediation meeting to resolve outstanding issues.
If you are dissatisfied with my response you should explain in writing why your complaint has not been addressed. I will review your comments and respond within 14 days unless more time is needed, in which case you will be informed when the response will be ready.
On reviewing a complaint I may call upon an independent PPC to review the matter and advise me. If this is necessary written consent will be sought from clients to release their papers to the independent PPC.
The independent PPC should report within 14 days of receiving the case file to me. I will write to the complainant confirming their decision, usually within 7 days of receiving the report.
If I have not resolved a complaint within the above timescales you may make a formal complaint to the FMC’s Family Mediation Standards Board (FMSB). Details of how to make a complaint to the FMSB can be found at Complaints about Mediators.
Note, the FMSB will normally only investigate a complaint if (a) it relates to its Codes of Practice or Standards Framework and (b) you have already exhausted our own complaints procedures in the last 3 months.
IMPORTANT – TIME LIMIT FOR COMPLAINTS
Any complaint must be submitted to me promptly and in any event not later than 3 months after the grounds to make the complaint first arose. For complaints about the way a mediation was conducted as a whole, the date the three months runs from is the last mediation session. If a complaint is made after this time an explanation for the delay must be given, along with evidence of exceptional circumstances preventing its submission sooner, and I will have a discretion whether or not to take those circumstances into account.
March 2024