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Terms and Conditions

Effective Date: 10 August 2026

Last Updated: 10 August 2026

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These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you ("Client", "you", or "your") and Ark Mediation Ltd ("we", "us", "our", or "Ark Mediation"), a company registered in England and Wales (Company Number 16121105), whose registered office is at 22 Warrington Road, Lymm, WA13 9BG.

These Terms govern the provision of our family mediation and related services and your use of our website (www.arkmediation.co.uk). By booking or using our services, or by using our website, you agree to be legally bound by these Terms. Please read them carefully. If you do not agree with them, you should not use our services or our website.
 

1. About Us and Our Services

Ark Mediation Ltd is a family mediation practice based in England and Wales. We arrange and manage your mediation and provide it under the Ark Mediation name. The mediation itself is carried out by professional family mediators who are independent, self-employed practitioners engaged by us, as explained in Section 6.

Our services include:

  • Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) — an initial meeting to explain the mediation process, assess whether mediation is suitable for your situation, and, where appropriate, issue a MIAM certificate for use in court applications;

  • Family mediation — facilitated discussions to help you and the other participant reach agreement on matters such as arrangements for children and the division of property and finances following separation or divorce;

  • Child-inclusive mediation — where suitable and agreed, giving children the opportunity to have their voice heard as part of the mediation process (see Section 8); and

  • Related support and documentation — for example, preparing a Memorandum of Understanding, an Open Financial Statement, or a parenting plan, and providing information about closely related or associated services where these may help you.

The specific services provided to you will be those you book and pay for, as confirmed to you at the time of booking.
 

2. The Nature of Mediation

Mediation is a voluntary process. You and the other participant take part of your own free will, and either party or the mediator may end the process at any time. Our mediators are impartial and do not take sides, give either party legal advice, or tell you what decision to reach. Any agreement reached is the result of your own decisions.

Mediation is not a substitute for independent legal advice. We recommend that you obtain your own legal advice, particularly before finalising any financial arrangement or converting any agreement into a binding court order. Any Memorandum of Understanding or summary of proposals prepared during mediation is not, by itself, a legally binding contract unless and until it is made into a binding agreement or court order with appropriate legal advice.
 

3. Eligibility

To use our services you must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement under the laws of England and Wales. Where mediation involves arrangements for children, participation by a child in the process is subject to Section 8.
 

4. Booking, Suitability and Engagement

You may book our services through our website, by email, or by telephone. Mediation depends on the willingness and suitability of both participants. Following your MIAM or initial contact, the mediator will assess whether mediation is appropriate and safe to proceed. We reserve the right to decline to begin, or to discontinue, mediation where we consider it unsuitable, unsafe, or otherwise inappropriate — for example where there are safeguarding concerns, a significant imbalance of power, or a conflict of interest. Where we do so, this is a professional judgement and not a failing on your part.
 

5. The Agreement to Mediate

Before substantive mediation begins, you will normally be asked to read and sign a separate Agreement to Mediate, which sets out how the mediation itself will be conducted, including matters of confidentiality, privilege, and the conduct expected of participants. These Terms govern our commercial relationship with you (including booking, fees, and use of our website). Where there is any inconsistency between these Terms and the Agreement to Mediate concerning the conduct of the mediation itself, the Agreement to Mediate will prevail.
 

6. Our Mediators and Professional Standards

The mediators who conduct your mediation are professional family mediators who are independent, self-employed practitioners. They are not employees of Ark Mediation Ltd. We engage them to carry out mediation under the Ark Mediation name, and we take responsibility for arranging and administering your service — including booking, taking payment, coordinating appointments, and running our practice properly.

The mediation itself, however, is a matter of the mediator's own professional judgement. Each mediator is personally responsible for the way they conduct the mediation and for their own compliance with the standards, Code of Conduct, and complaints requirements of the Family Mediation Council (FMC), and holds their own professional indemnity insurance. We carry out our own responsibilities with reasonable care and skill.
 

7. Fees and Payment

Our fees are set out in our current price list or as quoted to you at the time of booking. Unless otherwise agreed in writing:

  • Fees for a MIAM or a mediation session are payable in advance of the relevant appointment;

  • Where fees are shared between participants, each participant is responsible for their own share, and an appointment will normally proceed only once the fees due for it have been paid; and

  • Any fee for preparing documentation (such as a Memorandum of Understanding or Open Financial Statement) will be confirmed to you before the work is carried out.

Fees are quoted inclusive of VAT where applicable. We may revise our fees from time to time, but any change will not affect appointments already booked and paid for.
 

8. Child-Inclusive Mediation

Where child-inclusive mediation is offered and agreed, a child will only take part with the consent of both parents (or those with parental responsibility) and, importantly, with the child's own agreement. Child-inclusive mediation is conducted by a mediator trained for that purpose. What a child says during the process is treated as confidential to the child and will only be fed back to the parents to the extent the child agrees, save where a safeguarding exception applies (see Section 10). A child is never asked to make decisions or to choose between parents.
 

9. MIAM Certificates

Where you attend a MIAM and the mediator considers it appropriate, we can issue a MIAM certificate confirming your attendance for use in a court application. A MIAM certificate confirms that the relevant meeting took place; it is not a comment on the merits of any application and does not constitute legal advice. Once a MIAM has taken place and any certificate has been issued, that service is treated as delivered.
 

10. Confidentiality and Privilege of Mediation

Family mediation is a confidential and legally privileged ("without prejudice") process. Subject to the exceptions below, what is discussed in mediation is kept confidential and cannot generally be referred to in later court proceedings.

Financial disclosure is treated differently. Financial information provided during mediation is given on an open basis and may be referred to or relied upon in any later court proceedings.

Confidentiality does not apply, and we and/or the mediator may disclose relevant information, where:

a) there is a risk of harm to a child or a vulnerable adult, or a serious safeguarding concern; b) disclosure is required by law or by an order of the court; c) disclosure is required in order to make a report under money laundering, proceeds of crime, or terrorism-financing legislation; or d) all participants consent in writing to the disclosure.

We will always seek to handle any such disclosure sensitively and in accordance with our professional and legal obligations. Further detail on confidentiality is set out in the Agreement to Mediate.
 

11. Cancellations, Rescheduling and No-Shows

We reserve time and prepare for each appointment specifically for you, and late changes prevent us from offering that time to others.

If you cancel or need to reschedule a booked MIAM or mediation appointment within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time (including failing to attend without prior notice), a rescheduling fee of £30.00 is payable before a new appointment is confirmed.

No rescheduling fee applies where you give more than 24 hours' notice. We may, acting reasonably and at our discretion, waive the fee where a genuine emergency or other exceptional circumstances apply. This clause applies equally to cancellations, reschedules, and non-attendance.
 

12. Refunds

Where a service has not yet been provided, any request for a refund will be considered fairly, subject to any rescheduling fee properly due under Section 11 and any work already carried out on your behalf. No refund is due once a service has been delivered — for example, once a MIAM or mediation session has taken place, or a MIAM certificate has been issued.
 

13. Our Website and Chatbot

Our website and any AI-powered chatbot on it are provided for general information only. Information on the website and any response from the chatbot does not constitute legal, financial, or mediation advice, and should not be relied upon as such. AI-generated responses may occasionally be incomplete or inaccurate, and are not a substitute for speaking with us directly or obtaining professional advice.

Please do not enter sensitive personal details — such as information about abuse, health, children, or finances — into the website chatbot. If you need to discuss sensitive matters, please contact us directly using the details in Section 19. Our use of your information through the website is described in our Privacy Policy.
 

14. Your Responsibilities

To help mediation work effectively, you agree to:

  • provide accurate, complete, and honest information, including full and frank financial disclosure where relevant;

  • attend appointments punctually and engage with the process in good faith; and

  • treat the mediator, our staff, and the other participant with respect. We may end the mediation, without refund of fees for services already provided, where a participant is abusive, threatening, or repeatedly acts in bad faith.
     

15. Intellectual Property

All content on our website, and any documents or templates we produce, are owned by or licensed to Ark Mediation Ltd. Documents we prepare for you as part of your mediation (such as a Memorandum of Understanding) are provided for your use in connection with your own family matter.
 

16. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

Subject to that, and to the fullest extent permitted by law:

  • we are not liable for the outcome of any mediation, or of any subsequent legal proceedings, which remains a matter for you and the other participant;

  • because the mediation itself is conducted by an independent, self-employed mediator (see Section 6), we are not liable for the professional acts, omissions, advice, or conduct of the mediator in the course of the mediation, for which the mediator is professionally responsible and insured. This does not affect our own responsibility for arranging and administering your service properly;

  • we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss arising from your reliance on general information provided on our website or by our chatbot; and

  • our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with our services shall not exceed the total fees you have paid to us for the services in question.

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by matters outside our reasonable control, or by the actions or availability of the other participant.
 

17. Complaints

We aim to provide a high-quality service. If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have arranged or administered your service, please contact us at contact@arkmediation.co.uk so we can try to put things right. Complaints about the conduct of the mediation itself concern the independent mediator (see Section 6) and are handled in accordance with our complaints procedure and the complaints procedure of the Family Mediation Council (FMC); if the complaint cannot be resolved, you may be able to refer it to the FMC. We will help direct your complaint to the right place.
 

18. Data Protection

We process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available on our website. Ark Mediation Ltd is the data controller for the personal data you provide to us (ICO registration reference ZB960918). By using our services, you confirm that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, and protect your information, the legal bases on which we rely, how we handle special category data, and your rights.
 

19. General

Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version will always be available on our website with the latest effective date, and will apply to bookings made after it is posted.

Governing law and jurisdiction. These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or our services, are governed by the laws of England and Wales and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Severance. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
 

20. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, or wish to raise a concern, please contact us:

Ark Mediation Ltd 22 Warrington Road, Lymm, WA13 9BG Email: contact@arkmediation.co.uk Phone: 0330 043 6360 Website: www.arkmediation.co.uk

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