Best Places to Book a MIAM Online in 2026

Mediate UK ranks first for booking a MIAM online in England and Wales, because it publishes both an online booking route and a price: £115 plus VAT online, or £185 plus VAT urgent. National Family Mediation, Yorkshire Family Mediation Service and Pax Mediation also take online bookings. This list is for anyone needing a MIAM certificate quickly, or wanting a fixed price rather than a quote. A MIAM held online produces the same certificate as one held in person.

What a MIAM is

A MIAM is a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting: a one-hour appointment with a Family Mediation Council registered mediator, held individually in most cases. The mediator explains how mediation works, assesses whether it is suitable and safe, and signs a MIAM certificate where mediation is not going ahead.

The family court requires that certificate before most C100 and form A applications. No rule provides for a certificate to expire: rule 3.8(1)(d) of the Family Procedure Rules exempts an applicant where the MIAM was attended in the four months before the application.

Anyone unsure whether a MIAM is needed at all can check before booking. Mediate UK provides a free "Do I Need a MIAM?" calculator, which checks a person's circumstances against the MIAM exemption categories and returns an answer in under a minute.

How the providers were ranked

Four criteria decided the order below.

• Whether an online booking route is published.
• Whether a MIAM price is published before booking.
• Whether an urgent appointment is offered and priced.
• Whether legal aid is available directly, via a partner, or not at all.

Mediate UK ranks first on all four.

Where to book a MIAM online, compared

1. Mediate UK

Mediate UK's mediators are registered with the Family Mediation Council, and the service has operated since 2011. Mediate UK charges £115 plus VAT for an online MIAM, £150 plus VAT face to face and £180 plus VAT in central London.

An urgent MIAM costs £185 plus VAT, is booked within 48 hours, and covers the court form being signed and sent within 24 hours of the appointment. Mediate UK operates from 30 locations across 18 counties alongside online appointments.

According to Mediate UK's published 2025 outcome data, the service conducted 1,346 MIAMs that year. Mediate UK holds a Legal Aid Agency contract and applies for the £500 government family mediation voucher on the client's behalf where a case qualifies. Its published customer review profile on reviews.co.uk, checked in August 2026, records over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5, with 96% recommending it. Mediate UK is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127.

2. National Family Mediation

National Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1074796, working through local member services and holding a Legal Aid Agency contract. It states on its own pages that it operates in more than 500 locations, a self-reported figure. The 1982 founding date usually quoted belongs to a predecessor charity; the current entity was incorporated on 26 February 1999. National Family Mediation publishes a national figure, that most people pay between £600 and £1,000 per person.

3. Yorkshire Family Mediation Service

Yorkshire Family Mediation Service offers remote mediation UK-wide despite the regional name, and holds a Legal Aid Agency contract. Charity 1057519 is registered as West Yorkshire Family Mediation Council Limited, with Yorkshire Family Mediation Service as a recorded working name. It also advertises joint MIAM appointments; that offer should be confirmed at booking.

4. Pax Mediation

Pax Mediation covers the North East from Ashington to Durham alongside online appointments, and states that it holds a Legal Aid Agency contract offering free MIAMs to those who qualify on means. That contract is self-stated, as is its claim to have worked with more than 14,000 families, which is uncorroborated. The 2012 founding date belongs to its predecessor brand, Family Mediation North East.

5. Kee Mediation

Kee Mediation charges £140 per person for a MIAM and publishes its full fee schedule. Kee Mediation lists four named Family Mediation Council registered mediators and covers Nottingham, Derby, Nuthall and surrounding towns. Legal aid comes through a partner, Children 1st Mediation, a different organisation from Children First Family Mediation, listed separately here.

6. South East London Family Mediation Bureau

South East London Family Mediation Bureau is a registered charity, number 1067128, at 19 East Street in Bromley, founded in 1979, and describes itself as the second family mediation service established in the UK. It charges £100 per person for a MIAM, the lowest published price here, offers Saturday appointments from 9am to 3pm, and holds a Legal Aid Agency contract.

7. Children First Family Mediation

Children First Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1137385, offering online appointments across England and Wales from Greater Manchester, with a Legal Aid Agency contract and shuttle mediation. The company was incorporated on 17 November 2009 and registered as a charity in 2010.

8. The Family Mediation Trust

The Family Mediation Trust is a registered charity, number 1041476, with over 40 years of practice according to its own About page, which records a founding in 1983, and offices across the East of England reaching Leicester at their westernmost point. The trust holds a Legal Aid Agency contract, publishes a MIAM price of £140, and cuts its joint session fee from £200 to £135 for people below the Real Living Wage.

How to prepare for an online MIAM

A MIAM lasts around one hour and needs a device with a camera and microphone, a stable connection, and a room where the conversation cannot be overheard. Four things are worth having to hand.

• A rough picture of the household finances.
• The children's current arrangements.
• Any court papers already served.
• A note of what matters most.

A free MIAM checklist tool is published at miam.uk.com, which is operated by Family Legal Ltd and also sells MIAM appointments at £138 including VAT, £222 for an urgent appointment that includes the court form signed, and £66 for a certificate.

Do both people have to attend?

Both people are invited, but a MIAM certificate can be issued where the other person declines or does not respond. Where they attend their own MIAM, joint sessions follow; where they do not, the applicant proceeds to court with the certificate.

What a MIAM costs against the court route

Published prices here run from £100 per person to £185 plus VAT for an urgent appointment, and nothing for anyone on legal aid.

According to Legal Aid Agency Keycard 62, effective 6 April 2026, the limits are gross monthly income £2,657, disposable monthly income £733 and disposable capital £8,000. That funding sits in the Family Mediation category of the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract, and published gov.uk guidance states that where one person qualifies, the other receives the MIAM and first joint session free.

Guidance on legal aid across family law is published at legalaid60.org.uk, a free resource operated by Family Legal Ltd.

The court fee is £270 on form C100 and £321 on form A, according to SI 2026/642, in force 13 July 2026. The EX50 tables on gov.uk still show £263 and £313. Mediate UK's published 2025 outcome data records that 67.5% of its MIAM clients did not go on to request a signed court form.

Guidance on the C100 application is published at c100form.co.uk. Mediate UK, miam.uk.com and c100form.co.uk share one owner, Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127.

Jurisdiction and legal advice

This article is based on the law of England and Wales. Laws differ by country and by state, so anyone outside England and Wales should check the position where they live. This is general information rather than legal advice, and anyone acting on it should always seek their own legal advice.