Complaints Handling Policy

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality mediation service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. Any complaint will only be considered if the complaint is within 3 months of the end of the mediation.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure, and one of our partners will follow up with an initial call to discuss the situation.
2. Should you wish to proceed, then we will then investigate your complaint. This will involve allocating your complaint to one of our partners who will review your file and speak to the mediator against whom the complaint is made.
3. The partner will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 7 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Hopefully this will lead to the complaint being fully resolved.
4. If not, the partner will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. S/he will aim to set up the meeting within 7 days of writing to you about the complaint, as in 3 above.
5. Within three working days of the meeting, the partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions s/he has agreed with you.
6. If both the complainant and the mediator agree, mediation of the complaint may be arranged as a means of seeking to resolve it.
7. At the end of the meeting in para 4, if you are still not satisfied you can ask for your complaint to be referred to the Family Mediation Standards Board (FMSB). Details of how to make a complaint to the FMSB can be found at https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/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.

8. This complaints handling policy does not affect your right to seek civil legal redress.

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality mediation service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

This procedure applies to complaints concerning our civil, commercial and private mediation services and the conduct of mediators providing those services on behalf of Wells Family Mediation.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. Any complaint will only be considered if the complaint is within 3 months of the end of the mediation.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure, and one of our partners will follow up with an initial call to discuss the situation.
2. Should you wish to proceed, then then we will investigate your complaint. The investigation will be undertaken by a partner who was not the mediator to whom the complaint relates. They will review the relevant file and, where appropriate, speak to the mediator and any other relevant person.
3. We will investigate and provide a substantive written response to your complaint within 21 working days of receiving it. If further time is reasonably required, we will notify you in writing, explain the reason for the delay and provide an updated timescale. Hopefully this will lead to the complaint being fully resolved.
4. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you may request a review within 14 days of receiving our substantive response. Wherever reasonably practicable, the review will be undertaken by a partner who has not previously been involved in investigating the complaint.
5. We will notify you in writing of the outcome of the review within 21 working days of receiving your request. If further time is reasonably required, we will notify you in writing and provide an updated timescale.
6. We will maintain a written record of complaints received and their outcome in accordance with our data protection and record-retention obligations.
7. Nothing in this policy affects any legal rights or remedies available to any party.