Eight ways we stay independent.
Each commitment names a way Millesimal could be bought and what prevents it. We publish them so you can hold us to them.
Paid the same either way.
A flat fee per meeting, agreed in writing before any evidence is filed. It does not change with the outcome, the account, the invoice or who is asking.
Stops · selling the outcomeWe refuse work where there is a conflict, and log each refusal with its reason.
We have no commercial link to either side and never rule on a meeting we introduced. If only one side takes part, the ruling is not binding, says so on its face and invites the other side to respond on the record.
Stops · the quiet favourBoth sides get the same document at the same time, with reasons for each criterion.
Neither side gets a private version, a different summary or a covering note that adds to the ruling.
Stops · two versions of the truthEither side may reply on the record within fourteen days.
A reply does not change the ruling. It is kept with the ruling and shown wherever the ruling is shown, for as long as it exists. One specimen on this site shows a buyer who still disagrees.
Stops · the unanswerable verdictRulings are never edited.
If a material error is established, we issue a new ruling that names and replaces the original. Both stay on the record.
Stops · the rewriteWe do not book meetings, sell leads, take referral fees or earn commission.
Verification and rulings are the only products, and both cost the same whatever they find. No other income depends on meetings being cleared, and no introduction needs protecting.
Stops · the structural conflictAn agency’s score is never published without its written consent.
This rule has a cost. Without it, agencies would send us no meetings to judge. The obvious objection is that bad scores stay hidden. That is true.
Stops · nothing. This one is a cost we acceptThe method is public.
Each check is decided on its own, and its reasoning is written before the next is read. The overall result comes last, so it cannot shape the reasons.
Stops · the result deciding the reasonsOne adjudicator, named to you before you submit evidence.
Millesimal currently has one adjudicator. Each party is told who that is and what else they do before sending any evidence. Either side may refuse them, free and without giving a reason.
We tell the parties, not the public. Arbitration bodies work the same way: no published CV, but a right to object before proceedings begin.
Some refusals are automatic under commitment 02. We never rule on a meeting involving the adjudicator’s other employer, its customers or its competitors.
One person deciding is a real weakness. These safeguards reduce it:
- Checks are decided one at a time, as in commitment 08.
- Borderline calls wait a week for a second sitting.
- A second reader before issue, once volume allows. We will note the change here.
A review panel that can challenge us in public.
Members are named practitioners credited on the Standard. They may argue against any criterion in public. Arguments that succeed are published with the Standard, with a rationale and comment period.
Joining is free. You do not have to adopt the Standard or agree with it.