Privacy notice
Separation is personal, and so is the information you share with us. This notice explains what we collect, why, who sees it and the rights you have under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
Who we are
CM Family Mediation is a family mediation service founded and run by Carrie Matthews. We are the “controller” of your personal information, which means we decide how it is used and are responsible for keeping it safe.
- Email: cmatthews@cmfamilymediation.co.uk
- Postal address: [business address]
- ICO registration number: [ZA000000]
What we collect
- When you make an enquiry: your name, email address, phone number (if you give it), what you’d like help with, whether you’d prefer online or in person, your message, and a record that you agreed to this notice.
- When you book a meeting: your name, email address, the date and time you choose and any answers you give on the booking form.
- During mediation: information you share about your family, children, finances and property. This can include sensitive information, for example about your health, and information about other people, such as your former partner or your children.
- When you visit this website: our hosting provider keeps short-term technical logs (such as your IP address and browser type) to keep the site secure and working.
Why we use it and our lawful basis
- To reply to your enquiry and arrange your meetings. Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.
- To provide mediation, including your MIAM, joint sessions and written agreements. Lawful basis: performing our contract with you.
- To meet our legal and professional duties, such as keeping financial records, completing court forms you ask for, and acting on safeguarding concerns. Lawful basis: legal obligation.
- To run and protect our business and this website. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests, which we balance against your rights.
- Sensitive information (such as health details) is used only where you have given us your explicit consent, where it is needed to establish or defend legal claims, or where we must act to safeguard a child or an adult at risk.
- Information about other people (such as a former partner or children) is used only so we can provide mediation, under our legitimate interests.
We never sell your information, and we don’t use it for marketing.
Who we share it with
We only share what is needed. The services we use to run our business act on our instructions and must keep your information secure:
- Google (email and secure storage of enquiries)
- Calendly (online booking)
- Zoom (online meetings)
- Vercel (website hosting)
- Google and advertising platforms (website analytics and advert measurement, only if you accept cookies)
We may also share information with our accountant or professional advisers, with the court when you ask us to sign a court form such as your MIAM certificate, and with the police, social services or other authorities where the law requires it or where someone is at risk of serious harm.
Some of these providers are based in, or store data in, the United States. Where that happens, your information is protected by the UK–US data bridge or by the UK’s approved international data transfer agreements.
How long we keep it
- Enquiries that don’t lead to mediation: up to [12 months], then deleted.
- Mediation records: [6 years] after your mediation ends, so we can answer any questions or complaints and meet professional requirements.
- Payment and accounting records: as long as tax law requires.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
- ask us to correct anything that is wrong
- ask us to delete your information, or to limit how we use it
- object to how we use it
- ask us to send your information to you or someone else in a usable format
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it
Some rights have limits. For example, we may need to keep certain records for legal reasons, and we can’t give you information that belongs to someone else. To use any of these rights, email us. It’s free, and we’ll reply within one month.
Keeping it safe
We keep your information in secure, password-protected accounts, and only the people who need it to help you can see it.
Making a complaint
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve used your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
Cookies
Cookies are small files saved on your device. We only use cookies for analytics and advertising if you click Accept on our cookie banner. If you click Reject, or don’t choose, they stay switched off.
- Analytics (Google Analytics, through Google Tag Manager): helps us understand how people find and use the website, for example which pages are visited. We can’t identify you from this.
- Advertising (for example Google Ads or Meta): helps us see whether our adverts lead to enquiries or bookings.
- Your choice: we remember whether you accepted or rejected in your browser’s storage, so we don’t ask again on every page.
You can change your mind at any time with , also found at the bottom of every page.
Our booking calendar is provided by Calendly. When you use it, Calendly may set cookies that are needed for booking to work. You can read more in Calendly’s privacy notice. Our fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means Google receives your IP address when the page loads.
Website terms
- The information on this website is general information about family mediation. It isn’t legal advice, and it may not cover your exact situation.
- Mediators are impartial and don’t give legal advice to either person. You may find it helpful to get independent legal advice alongside mediation.
- We work to keep this website accurate and up to date, but things can change. The price that applies to you is the one we confirm when you book.
- Links to other websites are for your convenience. We aren’t responsible for their content.
- The text, images and design of this website belong to CM Family Mediation. Please don’t copy them without our permission.
Booking and mediation terms
Fees
- Your first meeting (MIAM): £125 per person. Your MIAM certificate for court is included at no extra cost.
- Joint mediation sessions: £200 per person per session online, or £250 per person per session in person.
- Written agreement (Memorandum of Understanding), charged separately: child arrangements £125 per person, finances or property £200 per person, all issues £225 per person.
- Each person pays their own fee.
- Payment: [when payment is due, e.g. when you book / before each session].
Changing or cancelling a meeting
You can reschedule or cancel using the link in your confirmation email. If you cancel or rearrange with less than [48 hours’] notice, or don’t attend, [the full fee may be charged].
Your right to cancel
Because you book with us online, you have the legal right to cancel within 14 days of booking and get a full refund. If you ask us to hold your meeting within those 14 days, you agree that once the meeting has taken place you can no longer cancel it for a refund. If you cancel after a service has started, we may charge for the part already provided.
How mediation works
- Mediation is voluntary. Either of you can stop at any time, and the mediator can also end mediation if it no longer seems suitable or safe.
- Before joint sessions start, you will each be asked to sign an Agreement to Mediate. It explains how sessions work, what is confidential and the limits of that confidentiality.
- What you discuss in mediation is confidential, except where there is a risk of harm to a child or an adult, or where the law requires us to share information.
- What you agree in mediation is not legally binding on its own. It can be made legally binding if you both want it to be, for example by asking the court to approve a consent order.
Complaints
If you’re unhappy with our service, please email us and we’ll aim to respond within [14 days]. [If we can’t resolve it, you can contact our professional body: name and link].
Responsibility
We provide our service with reasonable care and skill. Decisions about your family, finances and property are yours, and we aren’t responsible for the outcome of those decisions. Nothing in these terms limits your legal rights as a consumer, or our liability where it cannot be limited by law.
Law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, email cmatthews@cmfamilymediation.co.uk or make an enquiry.