Complaints Procedure

We hope you will be happy with our service. However, if you are not happy with the service, we need you to tell us about it to help us to maintain and improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, including about our costs, please initially contact Louise Martin, mediator, with the details.

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and where necessary asking you to confirm or explain the details. We will let you know who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within 10 working days of receiving your complaint.
  2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will do this within 10 working days of receiving your complaint.
  3. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This may involve one or more of the following steps:
    a. Louise Martin will investigate your complaint and then send you our detailed reply. She will do this within 30 working days.
    b. The complaint investigation will normally involve Louise Martin’s Professional Practice Consultant (‘PPC’) examining your file, and speaking with the mediator. The PPC will be involved in responding to the complaint.
    c. On occasions further time may be required, in which case you will be notified in writing.
    d. Mediation of the complaint can take place where both the complainant and mediator wish this to proceed.
  4. At this stage, if you remain dissatisfied, you can let us know. We will then arrange to review the decision within 5 working days.
  5. We will let you know the result of the review within 3 working days of the end of the review. At this time Louise Martin or the PPC will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  6. If the response is not accepted, you can ask the FMSB to consider the complaint if certain criteria are met, and provide details of how to do this.The complaints framework for family mediators registered with the FMC changed on 1 March 2022. From this date, complaints which would previously have been considered by my FMC Membership Organisation will now be considered by the Family Mediation Standards Board in accordance with its new complaints process.
    Details can be found here: https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaintsaboutmediators/
  7. If you are still not satisfied with our decision at the conclusion of the complaints procedure you may refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. Telephone 0300 555 0333; enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; www.legalombudsman.org.uk

There is a time limit for referring the matter to the Legal Ombudsman, which is generally 6 months from the end of our Firm’s complaint procedure and no later than 12 months from when the matter first occurred.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

We have in place a privacy policy/notice which allows information held by the mediator to be shared with the FMSB in the event that a formal complaint is made to the FMSB, to which that information pertains.