Most cost guides give you a spread so wide it’s useless — “between £150 and £350 an hour.” This is the opposite: one published fee list, three worked totals, and the exact point where the government’s £500 voucher changes the maths.
Here’s the frustrating thing about researching mediation costs: almost every article — including most of the ones ranking above this — gives you a range. MIAMs “typically £100–£300.” Sessions “£120–£400 per person.” That spread exists because mediators charge wildly different amounts, and the articles don’t want to commit to a number.
Fair enough. But ranges don’t help you budget, and they don’t help you compare. So this article does something simpler: it shows you one mediator’s actual published fees — mine — and works through what three typical cases cost from first call to signed agreement. If you’re shopping around, the method matters more than the numbers: any mediator who won’t publish a list like this is telling you something useful.
Before the specifics, it helps to know the landscape — because “what does mediation cost?” genuinely has no single answer across the UK. Here’s what’s out there, and why quotes vary so much.
Nationally, MIAMs run from around £100 to £300+ per person. At the cheaper end you’ll often find charity-funded services, trainee mediators building caseloads, or group providers working at volume. At the top end: London-based fully accredited mediators with consultancy rates. Most independent mediators sit somewhere in the £120–£180 middle.
Per-person session rates across the market roughly span £120 to £350 — but the hourly figure is the wrong thing to compare, for two reasons. First, sessions vary in length (60 to 90 minutes is common; mine are a fixed 90). Second, some practices bundle documents and admin into the session price while others charge separately, which can move the total by several hundred pounds even when the hourly rate looks cheaper. Always compare all-in totals, never rates.
Worth knowing before you assume you must pay: some charity services offer MIAMs free or heavily subsidised; if you qualify for legal aid, your MIAM and the first session are free for both of you; and the £500 voucher (below) applies to most cases involving children. “I can’t afford mediation” is often “I didn’t know the help existed.”
Where my fees sit: £120 MIAM and £160 sessions put this practice in the middle of the national range — deliberately. Undercutting on price usually means undercutting on preparation time, and preparation is what shortens your case.
Everything below is per person, fixed, and published on my pricing page — no “call for a quote,” no hourly ambiguity, no surprise extras.
| Service | Fee per person |
|---|---|
| MIAM (Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting) | £120 |
| Joint mediation session (90 minutes) | £160 |
| Shuttle session (2 hours, separate virtual rooms) | £200 |
| Open Financial Summary + Memorandum of Understanding | £150 (£300 combined) |
| Parenting Plan | £60 (£120 combined) |
| Child-Inclusive Mediation | £50 (£100 combined) |
| Mediator’s Certificate for Court (Form C100/A) | FREE |
Session fees include general correspondence, calls and emails. Certificates are free but expire after 4 months — a detail most cost guides miss, and the reason timing your MIAM matters.
The fee list is only half the answer. What you actually want to know is: what will this cost me, all in? These are the three most common patterns I see — worked through with the actual numbers.
Notice what drives the total: it’s the number of sessions, not the hourly rate. Most families need three to five. If someone quotes you a cheap hourly rate but your case needs eight sessions, you’ve saved nothing. That’s why a mediator who estimates sessions honestly at the MIAM is worth more than one with a tempting headline rate.
The government’s Family Mediation Voucher Scheme is confirmed for 2026/27. If your case involves arrangements for children, £500 is contributed to your joint mediation fees — applied for by your mediator after the MIAM, not means-tested, once per person. It does not cover the MIAM itself, and it does not apply to finances-only cases. In Journey 1 above it cuts the combined cost by a third.
Journey 3 (children + finances) through mediation with the voucher: £1,230 each, resolved in about 6–8 weeks, with a Memorandum of Understanding your solicitor converts into a consent order.
The same case through court: £270 just to file the C100, typically £10,000–£15,000+ per person in legal fees, and 12–18 months. The court fee alone went up in July 2026 — it rarely goes the other direction.
Mediation isn’t always the answer — safety concerns and some high-conflict cases belong in court. But for the majority of separating parents, the cheapest day in court is more expensive than the most expensive day in mediation.
Every case is different, but the maths isn’t. Use the cost calculator for a 30-second estimate with the voucher applied automatically, or read how one family’s case actually unfolded — sessions, timeline and receipts. And if you’re comparing mediators, ask every candidate the same question: “What’s my total likely to be, all in?” The ones who answer with a number deserve your call. The ones who don’t have told you everything.