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The General Ombudsman

If you can't agree, we can decide for you.

 

 

ProMediate is applying to join the Ombudsman Association.  Until approval of membership is granted, ProMediate is not trading as the General Ombudsman.

ProMediate has set up a General Dispute Resolution service to cater for businesses and customers who want a decision making about their complaint if they cannot resolve it through mediation.  The General Dispute Resolution Service is designed to deal with complaints between businesses and consumers that cannot be resolved through mediation and where a decision is needed.

How Does it Work?

If the complaint is not resolved internally, the customer and business can agree that the complaint will then be referred to the General Ombudsman Service, to issue a binding decision on the business, based upon the information gathered during the mediation process.

The decision will not be binding on the consumer unless they agree to this.  The decision will be made by the Chief Dispute Resolver, based upon recommedation of the expert ADR official who dealt with the mediation.

The customer and business agree at the outset whether they agree to the General Dispute Resolution Service giving a decision if the complaint cannot be resolved, in which case the business is liable to pay a fee to ProMediate.

What Powers Does the Dispute Resolver Have?

The General Dispute Resolver Service can direct that the business:

  • provides an apology
  • provides a refund
  • provides financial compensation
  • up to a limit of £10,000
  • awards can be enforced through Court action on the basis of breach of contract

PRESS RELEASE

ProMediate today launches its new dispute resolution service – The General Dispute Resolution Service- which is probably the first such service to cater for retailers and other businesses who want to try mediation first, but agree at the outset of the process that if they cannot resolve the complaint, it will then be referred to The General Dispute Resolution Service for a decision.

Businesses have the choice as to whether to join the General Dispute Resolution Service scheme, or simply offer mediation as a way of resolving disputes, through Click2Resolve. This may provide customers with more reassurance, as they will know that if there is a dispute, the business will agree to a decision being made if they cannot resolve it through mediation.

This will deal with any disputes between businesses and customers where the parties want a contractually binding decision about the complaint and they are not members of any other alternative dispute resolution scheme.

The General Dispute Resolution Service will deal with disputes in accordance with the Click2Resolve scheme guidance with one important difference. The ADR official will make a recommendation to our Dispute Resolver who will issue a briefly reasoned decision at the end of the process.  Businesses will agree at the outset that they will be bound by the Dispute Resolver’s decision if the customer accepts it.

The General Dispute Resolution Service follows the Ombudsman Association guide to principles of good complaint handling and principles of good governance but is not yet a member of the Ombudsman Association.

To sign up to the General Dispute Resolution service, or to make a complaint about a business, please contact us using the contact form.

Contact us by completing the form below

  • Contact us by post:

    Brow Farm Top Road Frodsham Cheshire WA66SP

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ProMediate is certified by CTSI to provide mediation services for consumer/business disputes in the UK. The charges that ProMediate is authorised to raise for each dispute dealt with are as follows:

Cost to businesses:

Value of Goods or Services

Up to £1,000                                         – £50 plus VAT

– £2,500                                                  – £75 plus VAT

– £5,000                                                  – £100 plus VAT

– £7,500                                                   – £125 plus VAT

– £10,000                                                 – £150 plus VAT

Payment can be made here for individual disputes:

Business Membership fee £100 plus VAT – sign up here……

Cost to Consumers:

Value of Goods or Services

Up to £1,000                                          – £10 plus VAT

£2,500                                                     – £25 plus VAT

£5,000                                                      – £50 plus VAT

£7,500                                                       – £75 plus VAT

£10,000                                                    – £100 plus VAT

The above charges are based upon 1 hour of mediator time. Disputes above this value can exit the scheme and be dealt with by ProMediate’s general mediation service.

It is a term of the Click2Resolve scheme that the business and consumer must consent to use the service, before instructing us.

Payment by Consumers can be made here……

Mediation Set up Service

If you contact us without first getting the other person or business to agree to use our service, we will contact them to try to obtain their agreement.

In those circumstances we do charge a set up fee for this service. It is sometimes possible to resolve your dispute informally after one or two calls without even booking a mediation appointment!

When we receive an initial enquiry we crack on immediately trying to make contact with the other side in the dispute, emailing info, leaving messages on the telephone and even text messages. Our working hours are never 9-5 and we will often make contact at a time that meets the needs of our clients, evenings and weekends included.

Sometimes one side requires key information before they will agree to mediate. We will often liaise with all concerned to make sure this is shared. Once contact is made there will be further to-ing and fro-ing to set up the appointment, documents sent out and making sure everyone is comfortable with the process.

We charge the following fees for contacting the other party in this way:

Value of Goods or services:

Up to £1,000 – £10 plus VAT

– £2,500       – £25 plus VAT

–  £2,500 upwards – £50 plus VAT

If you have already discussed your case with one of our mediators and need to pay your set up fee click below to pay by PayPal (if you need an alternative payment method please contact our office on 01928734630). (click below to make a payment)