These special terms and conditions apply where clients of Family Matters Mediate Ltd agree that a mediation, or a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) is to be conducted by telephone or over an online service. The word ‘meeting’ used below refers to the relevant telephone or online communications between Family Matters and you as a participant in a mediation or MIAM.
During the meeting
You agree to do all you can to give the meeting your full attention. You will ensure that you are not interrupted during the meeting by anyone else such as children, relatives, pets, deliveries.
You agree for the whole duration of the meeting to turn off or put to silent any other phones, tablets or computers, and turn off any alerts announcements or notifications of texts, emails, tweets or other social media activity, and close all or any other open application other than that required for the meeting.
Confidentiality provisions
The discussions in the meeting are confidential between the meeting participants and Family Matters. The exceptions to this are information which relates to safeguarding of children and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, for which we may disclose information to the appropriate authorities.
You must ensure that the meeting takes place in a place where it will not be overheard or interrupted.
Only the mediator and the meeting participants will be present in the rooms during the meeting, unless the mediator and the other meeting participants have all agreed to anyone else being present.
Neither you nor the mediator will:
- create any electronic, video or audio record of the meeting; or
- make or allow any live or deferred video or audio relay of the meeting to others.
Privacy notice
You can find details of our data protection arrangements and how we process you data in our privacy policy which is available here
You have informed of your preference for a meeting rather than a face to face meeting with us. Under our agreement you are consenting to use the services of a third-party service provider for your meeting, for example Microsoft’s ‘Teams’, Facebook’s ‘WhatsApp’ or Apple’s ‘FaceTime.’ You acknowledge that Family Matters has no control over or responsibility for the way any such service provider may use your data. You should refer to the websites of the relevant service provider for their privacy policies.
Connectivity problems and other interruptions
It is your responsibility to ensure that your device is equipped with the necessary and latest versions of the software for the meeting, that you have access to a network, that your device is fully operational, and you know how to operate it for the purposes of the meeting.
If:
- the connection for the meeting cannot be made at the appointed time or audio or visual contact is lost during the meeting; or
- the meeting is interrupted for any other reason
The Mediator may suspend the meeting and re-start it once satisfied that any interruption has been resolved and that it remains appropriate to continue the meeting. The mediator will make three attempts to resume the meeting over a 10-minute period.
If the meeting cannot be properly connected within that 10-minute period the mediator may decide to re-schedule the meeting for later that day or on another day.
Early termination of meetings
The mediator may terminate the meeting if
- You are not giving it your full attention to or not actively participating;
- You contravene the confidentiality provisions above;
- You attempt to, or do, record or relay the meeting in any way, or
- You are abusive or threatening to the mediator or anyone else participating in the meeting. There will be no refund of fees if the meeting is terminated for any of these reasons.
