Terms, conditions and privacy policy

Introduction

Please read these terms and conditions carefully. By accessing our site or using our services, you acknowledge that you understand, agree and are bound by these.

Modification of terms

At our discretion, Brighter Future Mediation Ltd may edit, add or remove parts of this agreement. If we do make changes we will make a reasonable effort to provide notice.

Refund policy

We will refund any payment to clients who wish to cancel their appointment as long as the request to cancel is made in writing at least 72 hours before the appointment is due to take place. No refund can be issued for cancellations made with less than 72 hours’ notice.

In the unlikely circumstance that a MIAM or mediation session is cancelled by us, we will rebook at your convenience or honour a requested refund.

If a session is cancelled because of a failure of client equipment (including internet connection), we will be unable to refund the session cost.

Payments for documentation such as the Open Financial Statement (OFS) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are required in advance and are non-refundable, because mediators begin work on these documents ahead of and between sessions.

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you may have a statutory right to cancel a distance contract within 14 days of booking. By booking with us and confirming the date of your appointment, you expressly request that your services begin during this 14-day period and acknowledge that you will lose your right to cancel under these regulations once the service has been fully performed. If you exercise this right after services have begun with your consent, you will be entitled only to a refund of payments for services not yet performed at the date of cancellation. To exercise this right, please email rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk with the subject line ‘Statutory Cancellation’ and your reference number.

VAT

We do not currently charge VAT on our services. This may change at any time. All invoices will be based on cost only and without VAT, unless otherwise stated.

MIAMs and mediation sessions

A MIAM certificate expires after four months. If a court form has not been filed with a family court within that time, the court will reject the application and you will need to undertake another MIAM before making a court application.

If a mediation matter has not been progressed for four months or more, the assigned mediator may require another MIAM session to take account of any change of circumstances since the last meeting.

We work with both fully accredited mediators and Working Towards Accreditation (WTA) mediators. From time to time, a mediator may be paired with a WTA mediator (either observing or co-mediating) for the purpose of professional development and quality assurance. Where this is planned, we will tell you in advance, explain how the session will be run, and confirm your consent before the WTA mediator joins. You are free to decline at any point and we will arrange an alternative.

Funding routes

We accept the following funding routes:

• Self-pay (default).
• Ministry of Justice Family Mediation Voucher Scheme — administered by OPIA. The voucher is worth £500, is not means tested and is available to anyone discussing child arrangements. The voucher is applied to your mediation sessions after the MIAM.

We do not currently offer Legal Aid and we are not on the Legal Aid panel.

Complaints procedure

We aim to provide a high-quality service and we operate a model of continuous improvement. If you would like to make a comment or suggestion, please contact us. If you wish to make a complaint, please email rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk with the subject line ‘Complaint’ and your reference number.

We will acknowledge any complaint within two working days and aim to resolve informal concerns within ten working days. Formal complaints will receive a substantive reply within ten working days. The full BFM Complaints Policy is available on request and sets out our staged process and your right of onward referral to the Family Mediation Council, the Civil Mediation Council or the Information Commissioner’s Office where applicable.

Fees

Brighter Future Mediation Ltd reserves the right to change our fees at any time. Current fees are published on the Fees page of this website.

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Privacy and cookie policy

This is the privacy and cookies policy for the website operated by Brighter Future Mediation Ltd (our “Website”). This policy applies to your use of the Website and the services we offer.

The policy explains who we are and how we process your personal data when you use the Website and our services.

If you continue to browse and use the Website and our services, you agree to this policy together with our terms and conditions (our “Terms”).

If you do not agree with this policy or our Terms, you must stop using the Website and our services immediately.

We may vary this privacy and cookies policy from time to time and the revised policy will apply from its date of publication. Please check this page regularly for any updates.

This Website may not be used by anyone under the age of 18 without parental or guardian consent.

About brighterfuturemediation.co.uk

This Website is operated by Brighter Future Mediation Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 16018531, with registered office at 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE (“we”, “our” or “us”).

You can contact us in relation to data protection matters at: rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk. Please email this address if you wish to exercise any of your legal rights with respect to your data or you have any questions about how we process your data.

The personal data we collect

We consider personal data to be any data that can identify you as an individual. Anonymised data does not constitute personal data.

We may collect the following categories of information:

• User profile information, such as username, password, site activity, purchase history and your marketing preferences.
• Basic information, such as name, date of birth and marital status.
• Contact information, such as email address, telephone number and postal address.
• Site activity information, including how you use the Website, its features and our other services.
• Technical information, such as the internet browser and device you use, your IP address, your approximate location, information about the cookies on your device and the plugins you have enabled. We may also receive this information if you visit other websites that use our cookies.

We collect this data when you:

• use the Website and its features;
• use our services and pay for our services;
• request to receive marketing materials; or
• contact, communicate or correspond with us.

Special category data

Family mediation, by its nature, sometimes involves disclosure of special category data, including information about a person’s health, racial or ethnic origin, sex life or sexual orientation, religious or philosophical beliefs, or biometric data; and information about safeguarding concerns or domestic abuse.

We minimise our collection of special category data and only process it where it is strictly necessary to deliver our service or to comply with a legal or safeguarding obligation. Lawful bases we rely on include the explicit consent of the individual, the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, and (where applicable) the “recognised legitimate interest” basis introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 for safeguarding and the prevention of crime.

We do not ask you to volunteer special category data through the Website. You should only share such information with us where it is relevant to your case.

Sources

We may also receive personal information about you from analytics providers (such as Google), search engines and advertising companies where you have visited the Website through their platforms.

How we use your data

We will not use your data in any way that breaches UK law.

We may use your personal data:

• to fulfil our business goals;
• to contact you in relation to your use of the Website and our services;
• where we need to comply with a legal obligation (for example, performing a contract or disclosing information to the courts);
• where we need to use your data to perform our contractual obligations with you (for example, to provide you with the services this Website offers);
• to create aggregated, anonymised statistics; and
• where we have a legitimate interest in using your personal data and your fundamental rights and interests do not override that interest.

You may receive promotional messages from us where it is legally permissible. Whenever we send you marketing content, you have the option to unsubscribe at any time, either by following the opt-out instructions in the marketing materials or by contacting us at rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk. We will not sell your personal data to third parties.

We retain your data only for the period necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected, except where legal obligations require a longer retention period (for example, for tax, accounting purposes or where there is a reasonable likelihood of litigation).

Third-party content

This Website contains links to third-party sites and may include features that integrate with external services (for example, payment processors). When you interact with these links or use third-party features, the terms, privacy policies and cookie policies of those services will apply, not ours. We encourage you to review the policies of any third-party site you visit.

We occasionally use third-party providers to deliver parts of the Website or our services. This may involve sharing your personal information with those providers. Whenever such sharing occurs, we ensure compliance with UK data protection law and that your data is securely handled and used strictly for the purposes we have specified, in line with our written instructions.

Data security

We take the security of your personal information seriously and use a range of technical and organisational safeguards to protect it against loss, accidental deletion, alteration or unauthorised access.

We have established protocols for responding to a security breach. In the event of a breach, we will fulfil our legal obligations, including notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and (where required) you, in line with the UK GDPR.

International transfers

Some of the third-party providers we work with are located outside the UK, which means there may be occasions when your data is transferred internationally. Whenever a transfer takes place, we will only do so where there is an appropriate transfer mechanism in place under the UK GDPR, such as a UK adequacy decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), the UK addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or another lawful safeguard. We will also use appropriate technical and contractual measures to protect your data during transfer.

Your legal rights

In specific situations you have the following rights in relation to the data we hold about you:

• Right to access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: if any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
• Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data.
• Right to restriction of processing: you can ask us to restrict how we process your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: in certain circumstances, you can ask us to transfer your personal data to you or to another organisation in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
• Right to object: you can object to our processing of your personal data in some cases, including for direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent: where we are processing your personal data on the basis of your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on your consent before its withdrawal.
• Rights related to automated decision-making and profiling: you have rights in relation to automated decision-making, including the right to human intervention, to express your point of view and to contest the decision.

These rights may be limited in some circumstances, for example where fulfilling your request would reveal personal data about another person, or where you ask us to delete data we are required by law to keep.

You can find more information about your rights on the ICO’s website at www.ico.org.uk.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk. We may charge a reasonable fee where the law permits, and we may need to verify your identity to confirm your request, particularly for access requests and requests for data portability.

Privacy complaints

You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office about how we handle your personal data. We would, however, ask you to contact us first by emailing rebecca@brighterfuturemediation.co.uk with the word “COMPLAINT” in the subject line, so that we have an opportunity to address your concern.

For information on how to file a complaint with the ICO, please visit the ICO website.

Cookies

The Website uses cookies. Cookies are small data files placed on your device that help us distinguish you from other users. This allows us, for example, to keep you logged in and to provide you with a good experience.

We will seek your consent before placing cookies (other than those that are strictly necessary) on your device. Cookies we place on your device will expire after a period that we determine is reasonably needed to achieve their purpose.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies: essential for the operation of the Website, enabling fundamental features such as logging in.
• Preference cookies: help us recognise you on subsequent visits, remember your preferences and tailor the experience to your needs.
• Analytical cookies: help us understand how visitors interact with the Website (for example, which pages are most frequently visited) so that we can improve the structure and content of the Website.
• Targeting cookies: track your usage of the Website (the pages you view, the links you click) and may be used to make advertisements more relevant to your interests. We may share this information with selected third parties for that purpose.

You can disable cookies through your browser settings, but doing so may result in a less optimal experience and may prevent the Website from functioning as intended.

For more information about cookies, including how to block them, you can visit the ICO website at https://ico.org.uk/global/cookies/.

General (privacy)

This privacy and cookies policy was last reviewed in April 2026.

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Website terms and conditions

By continuing to access and use this Website, you accept and agree to the terms and conditions set out below. If you disagree with any part of these terms, please cease using the Website immediately.

This Website requires users to be at least 18 years old. By using the Website and accepting these terms, you confirm and warrant that you are aged 18 or over.

You can contact us via the Website.

Privacy

All information you provide to us will be governed by our Privacy Policy above. By using the Website and submitting information to us, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy.

Website content

We, and any third parties involved, do not give any warranty or guarantee about the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials on this Website for any particular purpose. Content on the Website may be updated or modified without notice. Information and materials on the Website may contain inaccuracies or errors and we disclaim liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the maximum extent allowed by law.

Any use of the information or materials on this Website is at your own discretion and risk, and we will not be liable for any consequence of that use. It is your responsibility to ensure that the products, services or information available through this Website meet your specific needs.

Account creation

When creating an account, you confirm that all information you provide is accurate and complete at the time of registration and at any subsequent time.

You agree to promptly tell us about any changes to the information you have provided and to keep your account information current.

If your account is secured by a password, you must keep that password confidential, not share it with others and not use it for any unauthorised purpose or on any other website. You accept full responsibility for all activity under your account.

We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, at our sole discretion, for any reason or in the event of a breach of these terms.

You can cancel your account either through any account-deletion feature in your account settings or by contacting us via the Website.

Intellectual property

All copyright, including text, graphics, audio clips, video clips, HTML source code, object code and all other content on this Website (unless explicitly stated otherwise) is owned by Brighter Future Mediation Ltd or other relevant third parties.

You agree not to use, reproduce, modify, copy or distribute any of the content without our prior written consent.

When you upload or contribute content to the Website, you grant us a licence to use that content in connection with operating the Website and our business. If any losses arise from content you upload or add, you agree to indemnify us against those losses.

What you cannot do

You may not use the Website to:

• breach these terms and conditions;
• engage in any unlawful activity; or
• harm the Website or impede other users’ enjoyment of the Website and its features.

External content

The Website may include links to websites owned or managed by third parties. We are not responsible for the content of those external sites and we do not endorse them. We disclaim any liability for losses or damages you may incur as a result of visiting any third-party website, regardless of whether we have provided the link.

We may incorporate third-party applications and services to enhance the Website. In those cases, your use of the third-party applications and services will be governed by their separate terms.

Disclaimer, indemnity and limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, we disclaim all liability for any direct, indirect or consequential losses or damages that may result from your use of, or inability to use, the Website. The Website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranty that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or free of defects.

By using this Website, you agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless against any claim, action or demand brought by any third party arising out of or in connection with your use of, or access to, the Website.

Governing law

These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute or claim arising out of, or in connection with, the Website will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

General

Unless specifically stated otherwise, these terms and conditions do not grant any rights to third parties.

If any part of these terms and conditions is found to be invalid, this will not affect the validity of the remaining sections, which will continue to be fully enforceable. Any invalid provision will, where possible, be interpreted in a manner that maintains its intended effect while ensuring its validity.

A failure on our part to enforce any right or provision of these terms and conditions does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

We may modify these terms and conditions at any time. Changes take effect from the moment they are posted on the Website. It is your responsibility to review these terms and conditions regularly to keep up to date with the current version.