The cost of mediation

How much will it cost me?

The cost of mediation will vary according to your income level:

• If you are on a very low income, you are likely to be eligible for legal aid support. 
• If you just miss out on legal aid then, as we are a charity, we are able to offer a 1/3 discount on all full mediation sessions. 
• If you fail to fulfil the rate for the above two options, then you will be charged at our standard rates. 

The following table sets out the relevant rates:

1) All prices above include VAT.

2) All payments must be made before a mediation session or MIAM is held.

3) The deposit is retained until the legal aid assessment is complete. 

4) All prices are per party, for example if the mediation session is run as a shuttle session then both parties will have to pay the £30 supplement to the mediation charge of either £120 or £180.

5) Co-mediation is a model adopted for cases that have high levels of complexity, the decision for co-mediation will be made by the mediator. 

What is Legal Aid and will I be eligible?

To establish whether you are eligible for legal aid for mediation, take a look at the Legal Aid Calculator: www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid

If you would like us to assess whether you are eligible for Legal Aid in your mediation assessment meeting (MIAM), you will need to bring certain documents to your assessment meeting - we cannot assess your eligibility without these documents.  Here is a current checklist of documents you will need to bring: Legal Aid Information of Clients current.pdf.  Please note that you must bring paper copies, so that we can photocopy the evidence for our records; online or phone records are not sufficient.  If you are unable to bring a paper copy, please contact us to arrange to send an email copy prior to your assessment meeting. 

If the assessment finds you are not eligible for Legal Aid, or if you are unable to produce the evidence needed to assess you, you will be charged our standard rates.

When do I pay?

We take payment when we make a booking for a meeting. 

How can I pay?

We take payment at the point you make the booking over the phone.  We will accept payment via a credit or debit card.  If you reserve a meeting through the website, then you will need to call to make payment.  Failure to do this will mean that the meeting will not take place. 

We would like to do a shuttle mediation session, what is the cost implication of this?

These sessions cost the service more to run, so we do need to make a charge to cover these costs.  The supplement fee for a shuttle mediation is £30 per person. 

What happens if I cancel?

Our policy is:

• For all private clients the service requires 3 working days' notice for a cancellation.  If the cancellation is less than 3 working days from the booking then the service is unable to refund the cost of the session. 
• For Legal Aid assessments the cancellation is less than 48 hours before a mediation session, then a charge of £25 will be made.  If the Legal Aid assessment has been undertaken there is no charge for non-attendance, but was ask you to notify the service as soon as possible.