This document sets out our:
TERMS OF WEBSITE USE
These terms and conditions govern the use of www.susannalongmediation.co.uk (the Site), a website owned and operated by Susanna Long t/a Susanna Long Family Mediation. By using this Site, you agree to abide by these terms.
Intellectual Property: All content published and made available on the Site is the property of Susanna Long and the Site’s creators.
Links to other websites: Our Site may link to third party websites or resources that we do not own or control. These links are provided for information only, and inclusion of them does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed therein. We accept no liability for any loss you may incur from them.
Our liability: The information contained on our website is for general information purposes only. Whilst we endeavour to keep this information correct and up-to-date, any reliance you place on the information is strictly at your own risk. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this Site or any website linked to it. This includes loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, virus or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material,
Availability: Access to our site is permitted on a temporary basis; we bear no responsibility or liability if our Site is unavailable.
Information about you and your visits to our site: We process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By using our Site, you consent to such processing.
Law: These terms will be governed by the law of England and Wales.
TERMS OF BUSINESS & FEES
Fees
Our mediation fees are as set out below (no VAT). Payment by bank transfer is required in advance of the session.
| Mediation information and assessment meetings | £100 per person |
| Signed court form if required | No charge |
| Joint mediation session | £100 per person per hour |
| 90 minute session | £150 per person |
| Parenting Plan | £100 per person |
| Open Financial Summary | £150 per person |
| Summary of Proposals | £150 per person |
The above charges include reasonable administrative dealings with you by phone, email, and a mediation record following any joint mediation meeting. Room hire (for in person mediation) is passed on at cost (split equally between you). Any additional fees (for instance for child inclusive mediation, or attendance of a co-mediator or other professional) will be discussed with you and agreed in writing in advance.
By way of example, a finance mediation involving 5 joint mediation sessions (online, 90 minutes each) that reached agreement and was written up as a Summary of Proposals for a solicitor to draft a binding consent order, would cost £1,150 per person, as follows:
Per Person
Assessment meeting - £100
5 x 90 min sessions (5 x 150) - £750
Open Financial Summary - £150
Summary of Proposals - £150
Total - £1,150 per person
The extra cost for doing the joint sessions in person would be approximately £150 each.
Cancellation policy
We require 24 hours’ notice of cancellation during working days (so you need to tell us by 3pm on Friday if you wish to reschedule or cancel an appointment at 3pm on Monday). We reserve the right to charge the person cancelling a minimum of one hour (that is £100) if you give us less notice than this.
Legal Aid
Susanna Long Family Mediation does not provide mediation funded by legal aid. As a rough guide, you need to be on Universal Credit, Income Support, Income-based JSA or Income-based ESA, or have a family income of less than £2,657 per month gross, and have no more than £8,000 in savings (excluding any family home and pensions if you are mediating about these assets). You can find a mediator that offer legal aid on the FMC register (tick the box for mediators offering legal aid).
PRIVACY NOTICE
This policy sets out what personal information Susanna Long Family Mediation collects and holds about you and your rights in relation to that information. Susanna Long Family Mediation is a data controller registered with the Information Commissioner’s office, registration number 7B375197.
Our contact details
Name: Susanna Long Family Mediation
Address: Tooting Works, 89 Bickersteth Rd, London SW17 9SH
Phone: 07541 541 200
E-mail: info@susannalongmediation.co.uk
What type of information we have
We may collect and process the following information about you, your partner and other members of your family including children:
- Personal information (such as name, contact details, address, date of birth, school)
- Relationship information
- Health information (as relevant to the needs of the family, safeguarding, suitability of mediation)
- Financial information
How we get the personal information
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you. We collect it by phone, email, face-to-face, or in an online meeting (such as zoom) when you enquire about, or use, our family mediation service. Sometimes this information is also provided by your partner, or by someone (such as a solicitor) referring you to us.
Why we have the personal information and how we use it
We collect and use this information to:
- Provide you with information about family mediation in your circumstances
- Invite other potential participants to find out about mediation
- Work out whether mediation is suitable and safe for your family
- Provide our mediation service to try to resolve your family matter.
We may retain your information for research, statistical and training purposes, but only on the understanding that if used for this purpose, all identifying details will have been removed.
The legal basis on which we use your information
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
- Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting info@susannalongmediation.co.uk using the subject header “Privacy”
- We have a contractual obligation. This applies if you enquire about our service, attend an information and assessment meeting to find out about our mediation service, or if you use our mediation service (in which case you will sign our Agreement to Mediate); or
- We have a legitimate interest. As mediators registered with the Family Mediation Council we have professional obligations. This includes ensuring that both participants in a family matter have the opportunity to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting (sometimes called a MIAM) before using the courts. Accordingly, where your ex-partner attends an assessment meeting, we may use contact details they provide us to invite you to an assessment meeting. We also have a professional obligation to have particular regard to the welfare of any children, and to encourage parents to focus on their children’s needs. It is to fulfil this obligation that, where there are children of the family, we ask for their details listed above.
We may share this personal information with
- Any third party at your request
- Any personnel engaged by us (this may include co-mediators or trainees, provided they have committed to equivalent privacy and confidentiality obligations).
- Anyone who needs to know to fulfil our professional obligations as mediators registered with the Family Mediation Council. This includes our professional supervisors (known as Professional Practice Consultants or PPCs) and any complaints handler (including the Family Mediation Standards Board).
- Relevant agencies and / or authorities in so far as necessary to fulfil a legal obligation (such as safeguarding children or vulnerable adults, or reporting financial crime).
How we store your personal information
Your information is securely stored in London, UK and / or securely in the cloud (using providers who are GDRP-compliant).
Once your case closes, we will keep your file of papers (in paper, electronic form, or a combination of both) for up to 6 years if your case proceeded to mediation, and for up to 1 year if your case did not proceed to mediation, following which we will securely destroy it (by shredding, in the case of paper and deletion, including any back-ups, of electronic documents).
We keep financial records, such as invoices, for approximately 6 years as required by HMRC.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access. You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification. You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure. You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing. You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing. You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability. You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
We have one month to respond to any request you make to exercise these rights. We reserve the right to charge you £10 per request by way of an administrative fee.
Please contact us at info@susannalongmediation.co.uk if you wish to make a request.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at info@susannalongmediation.co.uk
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
Date: September 2023
COMPLAINTS POLICY
Susanna Long Family Mediation is committed to providing a high-quality, professional service to all our mediation clients. Your feedback enables us to improve our service to you, and to our clients generally.
If you have any concerns, it is important that you raise them with us as soon as possible so we can put things right. If, having discussed the matter informally, you wish to make a formal complaint, our complaints process is as follows.
Eligible complaints
We will investigate complaints from:
• existing clients
• former clients
• prospective clients who have been directly affected by our professional behaviour as mediators;
• someone who has been invited to participate in the mediation process, such as another professional who attends a mediation.
Any complaint must be received within 3 months of the last mediation session (or other meeting or contact we had with you if the matter did not proceed to mediation).
As registered mediators with the Family Mediation Council (FMC), we are bound by the FMC’s professional standards, including the FMC Code of Practice and Manual of Professional Standards and Self-Regulatory Framework (see https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/mediator-area/standards-codes-guidance/ ). Your complaint must relate to an aspect of our professional mediation service which amounts to a breach of these standards.
Complaints process
1. If you are dissatisfied with any part of our service, please raise it with your mediator as soon as possible so that we have a chance to discuss your concerns and resolve things informally.
2. If, following discussion, you are still dissatisfied, please put your complaint in writing and email it to info@susannalongmediation.co.uk using the subject header “Complaint”.
3. We will acknowledge your complaint within 10 working days of receiving it. We will also ask you to confirm or explain any details which we need. We will then investigate your complaint.
4. We will respond to your complaint within 20 working days of first receiving it: we will either invite you to a meeting to resolve the complaint, or, alternatively, provide you with a detailed response in writing including our suggestions for resolving the matter. This will include the offer of mediation if both you and the mediator wish this to happen. Occasionally we may need additional time to respond; if so, we will let you know this in writing.
5. If you are not happy with the response, you may complain to the Family Mediation Standards Board (FMSB) if you meet their criteria. The FMSB is the regulatory arm of the FMC. The FMSB’s criteria and complaints process are available here: https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaints-about-mediators/
In making a formal complaint, you consent to your case file being passed to any complaints handler, should that become necessary.
