Merge two or more open cases for the same debtor into a single surviving case, with combined principal and a recalculated success fee. This guide covers when to merge, the eligibility rules, and the 3-step merge flow.

Goal

Consolidate eligible open cases against the same debtor into one case, so you work a single combined claim instead of parallel threads. After the merge, the winner case shows the combined principal and the recalculated fee; the absorbed cases become permanently read-only with 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

Before the merge option appears, the platform checks that every selected case passes 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.

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 if you have other merge-eligible cases for the same debtor. Expand it to search for candidates by debtor name or case reference, select one, 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 the link is not visible, no eligible cases exist - continue with the standard accept / request info / decline flow instead.

2b. Or start from the case detail Actions menu (secondary entry point)

On any eligible case's detail page, open the Actions dropdown in the top-right corner. If merge-eligible cases exist for the same debtor, a "Merge with another case..." option appears at the top of the menu. 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 shows only eligible candidates (same client, same currency, eligible lifecycle).

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 (sum of all child invoices)
New due date (earliest due date across all invoices)
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 by lifecycle priority: Active cases take precedence, then Paused, then pre-active cases (Pending Verification / Needs Additional Details). Within the same lifecycle tier, the case with the earliest due date is chosen. You cannot manually override this - if any Active or Paused case is in the merge, it will be the winner. 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 becomes permanently read-only with 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. See the Activity tab for the full merge record."

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 Activity tab shows a merge event with links to the absorbed cases.
Fee editing is disabled on the winner to prevent changes to the merged fee calculation.

The loser cases (the absorbed cases)

Status changes to Merged - they are permanently read-only.
Hidden from the default Cases Received list, the same as Closed cases.
All original data (debtor details, amounts, client reference, chat threads) remains visible if you navigate directly to the old case URL.
A "Merged - view only" badge appears in the sidebar with a note to check the Activity tab for the full merge record.
The loser's Activity tab shows a merge event with a link to the winner case.

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. If the case you want to use as the primary case has been currency-converted, contact support.
Bulk merge from the case list - merges are done one pair at a time through the modal.