Goal
Decline a case you cannot accept by providing a valid reason. The system will validate your reason and notify the creditor with an appropriate message.
Prerequisites
Before you can decline a case, ensure the following:
The case is in Pending Verification status (you cannot decline cases that are already Active, Paused, or Closed).
You have signed the Standard Debt Collection Agreement (SDCA). If you have not signed, you will be prompted to do so when you try to take action on any case.
You have reviewed the case details to determine why you cannot accept it.
📋 Non-Exclusive Partners
Non-Exclusive (Legal Network) partners do not receive auto-assigned cases with a decline option. Instead, you receive leads and choose whether to submit a quote. If you do not want a lead, simply do not respond. See Partner types for details on how your workflow differs.
Steps
Open the case from Cases Received.
Go to Cases Received in the Partner Portal and click on the case you want to decline.Review the case details.
Confirm you cannot accept this case. Common reasons include conflicts of interest, jurisdictional limitations, missing documentation, debtor insolvency, or cases below your minimum threshold.Select the decline action.
Locate the decline option in the case actions. This is only available for cases in Pending Verification status.Enter your decline reason.
Provide a free-text explanation of why you cannot accept the case. Be specific and factual. The system uses AI to validate your reason and categorize it into one of the approved decline categories.Submit the decline.
Confirm your decision. Once submitted, the system will:
Validate that your reason is legitimate and falls within approved categories.
Generate a professional message to send to the creditor explaining the decline.
Record the decline in the case history.
Valid decline reasons
The system recognizes 13 approved decline categories. Your free-text explanation will be mapped to one of these:
Business and operational reasons:
Conflict of interest - You have competing interests that prevent you from taking the case.
Custom terms requested - The client has requested non-standard terms.
Below minimum - The case principal is below your minimum threshold.
Untraceable debtor - You cannot verify or locate the debtor.
Legal and jurisdictional reasons:
Out of jurisdiction - The case is outside your agreed geographic coverage.
Time-barred - The debt has passed the statute of limitations.
Regulatory restriction - You are not licensed to collect in this jurisdiction.
Sanctions or legal block - Legal restrictions prevent you from working with the debtor or creditor.
Case quality reasons:
Misclassified (not pre-legal) - The case is disputed or requires legal action rather than pre-legal collection.
Insolvency or ceased - The debtor is bankrupt, deceased, or dissolved.
Duplicate - This case has already been submitted to you.
Missing essential information - Critical information remains missing after you requested it.
Fraud or scam risk - The case shows clear signs of being fraudulent.
If your decline reason does not match any approved category or appears invalid, it may require manual review.
Result
After you decline a case:
The case moves from Pending Verification to Collecting Quotes status.
The case is shared with our partner network so other partners can view it and submit quotes.
The creditor receives a notification with the system-generated decline message explaining why you declined.
The case is closed with the status Case never started and excluded from your performance scoring.
Exception: If the creditor has disabled quote sharing, the case will be closed immediately without being distributed to other partners.
Edge cases
Can I decline after accepting a case?
No. The decline action is only available during the Pending Verification stage. Once you accept a case (Active status), you must use appropriate close codes if you need to stop working on it. See Case status definitions for available close codes.
What if I want the case but need different terms?
Instead of declining, you can submit a custom quote. This keeps the case with you while allowing you to propose non-standard pricing or terms.
Does declining affect my performance score?
No. Cases closed with the Case never started status are excluded from your collection score and case engagement calculations. Valid declines are not penalized.
What happens if I do not respond to a case in Pending Verification?
You should always respond by either accepting, declining, or requesting additional details. Leaving cases unattended in Pending Verification creates tasks and may affect your responsiveness metrics.
Related articles
Case lifecycle - Understand all case states and transitions.
How to submit a custom quote - Alternative when standard terms do not fit.
Partner types - Differences between Exclusive and Legal Network partners.