We are not an ombudsman but use the consensual process of mediation to resolve disputes. We use our knowledge of consumer law and Gambling rules to help assist parties in finding a resolution to their claims.

Details of the dispute resolution schemes we run for certain traders can be found in this section.

Our ADR Officials can be found here:https://www.promediate.co.uk/click-2-resolve-mediation-services-for-consumer-disputes/find-a-mediator/

We are an independent alternative dispute resolution body by the appropriate competent authorities, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Gambling Commission. We follow the Gambling Commission’s new ADR requirements effective from 31 October 2018.

Our sources of funding

We are entirely independent and our source of funding is only income we generate from mediation fees received from parties who use us for mediations. The majority of our income comes from full commercial litigation mediations rather than consumer or gambling operator mediations. We do receive a small annual fee and small fee per case from some members of our ADR scheme.

Remuneration of our Mediators or ADR Officials

It is important to note that none of our mediators or ADR officials work for or are employed by, or receive any payment from any trader or party to a dispute or mediation. They abide by the Code of Conduct and are completely independent.

Our Objective

Our objective is to try to assist consumers and gamblers in resolving their disputes with traders and operators outside Court, to help them to avoid the costs and stress associated with proceedings.

Using mediation it is hoped that we can resolve your complaint and the issues between you without the cost and time involved in Court proceedings.

The first thing is for you to exhaust and complete the trader’s internal complaints process.

The Mediation Process

The process that we follow is set out on our website at www.pro

The mediation process is confidential and voluntary and you have the right to take independent advice and to terminate the process at any stage. If you reach an agreement then it will be binding on both parties. We keep you informed about the progress of your complaint at least every 30 days. We aim to resolve the matter within 28 days in any event. (90 days long stop)

Parties may communicate its us by post. We negotiate by email phone and sometimes a mediation meeting by phone or zoom will be set up.

We do not propose a solution but any mediation takes into account consumer law to ensure neither party is deprived of the protections those laws allow.

We allow the consumer 5 days to consider any offers made.

If any agreement is reached this will be recorded in writing and it is then binding on the parties.

If agreement is not reached then the consumer has a right to take independent advice, such as through Citizens Advice, and to take such steps as they wish to include for example bringing a claim in the small claims court.

We do not investigate or make any decision on your case as ours is a consensual process. With gambling complaints we are obliged to provide you with copies of any evidence supplied to us about your complaint by the gambling operator.

Parties do not need to seek independent advice or third party assistance in order to access the ProMediate ADR procedure but they can do so if they wish.

Our terms and conditions can be found at:

www.promediate.co.uk/click-2-resolve/terms-and-conditions

Once the parties have agreed to mediate, the mediator will be assigned to your case.

Next Steps

We will then need further details of your complaint – what your complaint concerns and in particular the outcome you are seeking to achieve. You can send this to us by post to Brow Farm Top Road Frodsham WA66SP or email to enquiries@promediate.co.uk

In many cases we do not charge the consumer a fee, but in any case we are limited to charging a nominal fee.

Once we have received this information from you we will consider whether there are any grounds for refusal or any conflict of interest, then obtain the trader’s response, and negotiate between the parties by telephone and/or email in order to try to bring the parties to an agreement. We will keep you informed regularly throughout the process. We bear in mind all applicable regulations and guidance when assisting the Participants to try to resolve the dispute.

You have the right to withdraw from the process and to take independent advice at any stage up until an agreement actually being reached.

We take customer service extremely seriously and if you have any questions or issues with our service please do not hesitate to contact us. Our complaints procedure is on our website and we encourage users to leave feedback as to their experience of using the service.

Cancellation Rights

ProMediate (UK) Limited of Brow Farm Top Road Frodsham Cheshire WA66SP telephone number 02036213908 email address enquiries@promediate.co.uk

The address which complaints should be sent to is the same as above.

The contract may be cancelled within 14 days without giving any reason or incurring any liability during the cancellation period.

However if you ask us to start work within the cancellation period, and to contact the other party or mediate with them, you will be responsible for paying us the reasonable costs of the service.

There are no cancellation rights for services if you ask us to start work in the cancellation period and we have completed the retainer.

Please see attached cancellation form.

Cancellation

You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason unless you have requested us to start work by contacting the other party or mediating within the 14 day period. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform ProMediate (UK) Limited of Brow Farm To Road Frodsham Cheshire at enquiries@promediate.co.uk telephone number 02036213908 of your decisions to cancel this contract by a clear statement (eg a letter sent by post, fax or email). You may use the attached model cancellation firm, but it is not obligatory.

To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of your right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

Effects of cancellation

If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement*.

If you requested to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated to us your cancellation from this contract, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.

We are not liable for any consequential losses in following your instructions to contact the other party.

To ProMediate (UK) Limited of Brow Farm Top Road Frodsham Cheshire WA66SP enquiries@promediate.co.uk telephone 02036213908

I/We [*] herby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] for the supply of the following service [*],

Ordered on [*]/ received on [*],

Name of consumer(s),

Address of consumer(s),

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),

Date

[*] Delete as appropriate.

Data Protection

We draw your attention to our privacy notice. We only collect your data to deal with your complaint and then when contacting the other party. We destroy all data held after 3 months or before if the complaint has been finalised or dealt with.

We do not sell your data or pass it on to any third party. If you have any questions about the data we hold please contact our data protection officer, Peter Causton

https://www.promediate.co.uk/terms-of-website-use/

Complaints

In the unfortunate event that you have reason to complain, we also have a complaints process set out on our website if you are dissatisfied with the service which we provide.

Consumer Mediation Process

Consumer Mediation Process – Key Steps

We aim to resolve matters notified to us within 28 days although the long stop is 90 days.

Step 1

1. Make a complaint to the trader and go through their complaints process

Step 2

2. Receive deadlock communication from trader. Still not happy?

Step 3

3. Check whether trader is willing to use ADR. If not, take other steps.

Step 4

4. If trader will mediate – contact us by phone email or post. We will acknowledge this within 7 days.

Step 5

5. We forward the details to the trader within 7 days. We allocate a mediator to the case and check they are not conflicted. We find out whether the business will take part, pay the fee for the whole process or whether there are grounds to refuse to deal with the matter. We only ever charge the consumer a nominal fee set in agreement with CTSI. At this point we send out the mediation agreement or confirm the terms upon which we are proceeding.

Step 6

6. Assuming we proceed then the trader provides us with its response to the complaint within 7 days and we send this by email, or post, to the consumer. We sometimes set up an online or telephone mediation or negotiate separately between the parties by email phone or we can communicate by post.

Step 7

7. If the parties reach agreement in a mediation meeting this is recorded in an agreement. If the trader makes an offer outside a meeting during the process we allow the consumer 5 days to consider. If the parties reach agreement that is the end of the matter.

Step 8

8. If there is no agreement reached then the consumer is free to take other steps such as bringing a claim in the small claims court. We always suggest that consumers take independent advice such as going to Citizens Advice before taking such steps but that is entirely up to you.