Merge two or more of your open cases for the same client into a single surviving case, with combined principal and a recalculated success fee. The feature is intended for several invoices against one debtor, but the platform does not enforce that - the candidate list is not filtered by debtor, so check the debtor yourself before you confirm - on the acceptance page if you search there, or at step 1 of the modal. This guide covers when to merge, the eligibility rules, and the 3-step merge flow.
Goal
Consolidate eligible open cases into one case, so you work a single combined claim instead of parallel threads. It is intended for several invoices against the same debtor - but the eligibility rules key on the client, not the debtor, so you have to check the debtor yourself. After the merge, the winner case shows the combined principal and the recalculated fee; the absorbed cases stop being workable and carry the status Merged.
When to use it
Merge cases when:
A client has submitted multiple invoices against the same debtor and you want to send one consolidated demand instead of separate threads.
The combined principal would place the claim in a higher SDCA success-fee bracket, improving collection economics.
Managing one active case is operationally simpler than maintaining several pre-active cases for the same debtor.
Do not merge when:
The cases belong to different clients.
The cases are in different currencies.
You want to keep the debtor communication threads separate and attributable to individual invoices.
Eligibility
These rules decide which cases you are allowed to merge. The full set is checked only when you confirm the merge. The candidate search narrows the list by client, currency and lifecycle, and neither the search nor the pricing preview replaces that validation. Clearing both does not establish that every merge rule has passed, so a set can reach the final step and still be rejected there. The entry points check even less: the acceptance-page link always appears, the Actions menu entry appears whenever the case you are on is itself in an eligible lifecycle state, and neither of them checks that a candidate actually exists. Every selected case must pass all of the following:
All cases belong to you (the same collection partner).
All cases are for the same client.
All cases share the same currency.
Each case is in one of these lifecycle states: Pending Verification, Needs Additional Details, Active, or Paused. Cases that are Closed, already Merged, in Leads, or awaiting contract signing are not eligible. See Case status definitions and allowed actions.
No case is already grouped under another case.
At least 2 and at most 10 cases are selected.
Note what is not on that list: there is no same-debtor rule. Cases for two different debtors of the same client are merge-eligible, so checking the debtor is yours to do.
Steps
1. Open an eligible case in your portal
Go to Cases Received in the partner portal and open the case you want to merge from. There are two entry points for starting a merge - both lead to the same modal.
2. Start the merge - from the acceptance page (primary entry point)
When you open the acceptance page for a Pending Verification case, a collapsible link labelled "or merge this into an existing case →" appears below any warnings. The link is always shown - it does not mean the platform has already found a case to merge with. Expand it and search by debtor name or case reference, select a candidate, then click "Preview merge →" to jump to the pricing preview step.
This is the most common path because it surfaces the merge option exactly when you are deciding whether to accept a new case. If your search returns nothing, that search found no candidate - it does not prove none exists, so try the debtor name and the case reference before concluding. With no candidate, continue with the standard accept / request info / decline flow instead.
2b. Or start from the case detail Actions menu (secondary entry point)
On any case in an eligible lifecycle state, open the Actions dropdown on the case detail page. A "Merge with another case..." option appears at the top of the menu. It is shown based on the case's status alone - it does not check that a candidate exists, or that any candidate is for the same debtor, so you can open the modal and find nothing to merge with. Use this when you want to merge cases that are already Active or Paused.
3. Select a candidate (Step 1 of the modal)
The current case is locked as the anchor. Use the search input to find the case you want to merge with - search by debtor name or case reference. The list is filtered by client, currency and lifecycle. It is not filtered by debtor - it can include other cases for the same client against a different debtor, and the debtor name is only a search term. Check the debtor name on the candidate before you continue; the merge cannot be undone. Appearing in this list is not a guarantee the merge will go through: the search filters on client, currency and lifecycle only, and the rest is checked later.
Select a candidate and click "Next → Preview pricing".
4. Preview pricing (Step 2 of the modal)
The preview shows:
Both cases with their current amounts
Combined principal (the sum of the selected cases' own totals)
New due date (the earliest due date among the selected cases)
Blended success fee percentage (recalculated from the age profile of the combined principal)
The current fee percentage for each case, so you can see how the fee changes
The winner case is determined automatically. Lifecycle priority comes first: Active cases take precedence, then Paused, then pre-active cases (Pending Verification / Needs Additional Details). Within that top tier the platform prefers a case that has not been through a currency conversion, then takes the earliest due date. It will not drop to a lower tier to avoid a converted case - so if every case in the top tier has been converted, the merge is rejected rather than resolved by picking a lower-tier case. You cannot override the selection from the modal. The preview is read-only and does not make any changes. Click "Next → Confirm".
5. Confirm (Step 3 of the modal)
The confirmation step summarises what will happen: the loser case stops being workable and carries the status Merged, and the winner absorbs all invoices with the combined amounts shown.
Check the irreversibility checkbox before the merge button activates:
"I understand this merge is permanent and cannot be undone. Merged cases become read-only."
Click "Merge cases".
Result
On success you are redirected to the winner case with a confirmation banner:
"Merge complete. This case now includes all combined invoices - the principal and success fee have been recalculated."
The winner case
Keeps its original reference number and case ID - continuity with the debtor and any prior communications is preserved.
Shows the combined principal and the recalculated success fee in the sidebar.
The winner's Activity entry links to the absorbed cases. Related-case links appear when the other case is still accessible to you and has a reference; if that lookup fails the merge entry still shows, without the links.
Keeps normal fee and amount editing. The merged-case read-only guard is keyed on the absorbed case's own Merged status, so it never applies to the winner.
The loser cases (the absorbed cases)
Status changes to Merged. Case processing, debtor editing and amount changes are all disabled and cannot be re-enabled. One action survives on the client side: a Creditor Admin can still change the case's bank account, because that control has no lifecycle restriction.
Still listed in Cases Received. Absorbed cases are not filtered out of the default view - they stay in the list showing a Merged status.
All original data (debtor details, amounts, client reference, and attached documents) remains visible if you navigate to the merged case directly. The case chat is the exception - every active chat thread on the merged case is closed by the merge, and no message history is carried onto the combined case.
A "Merged - view only" badge appears in the sidebar with a note to check the Activity tab for the full merge record - and the record is there.
The case header carries a "See merged case" link through to the winner, and the Activity tab carries a merge entry that links there too. Related-case links appear when the other case is still accessible to you and has a reference; if that lookup fails the merge entry still shows, without the links.
Loser cases are never deleted. If a client or colleague asks about an old case reference, navigating to it will show the merged state and point to the winner. For the full lifecycle context, see Case Lifecycle (Deep Dive).
Pricing after a merge
The success fee percentage is recalculated using the combined merged principal and the standard SDCA pricing brackets, regardless of the winner's current status - this applies even when the winner is already Active or Paused. Both the fee percentage and the absolute fee amounts on the winner update to reflect the combined principal and its blended age profile. The fee may be higher than the individual case fees if some invoices are older than 12 or 24 months.
If anything in this section conflicts with the Standard Debt Collection Agreement (SDCA), the SDCA is the legally binding source of truth.
Limitations
The following are not supported in the current version:
Un-merge - merges cannot be reversed.
Merging more than 10 cases at once - contact support if you need to consolidate a larger number of cases for the same debtor.
Merging cases in different currencies - all cases must share the same currency.
Currency-converted cases as winner - a case that has undergone currency conversion cannot be the merge winner. A converted case can still be absorbed; the rule only applies to the case that survives.
Selection works with this rather than against it: within the winning lifecycle tier the platform prefers an unconverted case. It will not drop a tier to find one, so if every case in that tier has been converted the merge cannot be done - and support cannot override it. The pricing preview now checks this rule, so you find out at the preview step rather than at confirmation. The preview still does not run every merge rule, and a case's state can change between preview and confirmation, so a successful preview is not a guarantee.
Bulk merge from the case list - merges are done one pair at a time through the modal.
Related articles
Case status definitions and allowed actions - the Merged lifecycle status
Case Lifecycle (Deep Dive) - all lifecycle states including Merged
How to review and approve a new case - the standard accept flow
How to decline a case - declining an unmergeable case
How to close a case - closing a case once collection ends
