Start a Case

Transition a case from PendingVerification to Active via the Collection Partner API.

Overview

When Debitura assigns a case to your agency, it arrives in PendingVerification. Once you have verified the details and are ready to begin collection, call POST /cases/{id}/start to activate it.

For an explanation of case statuses and the actions available in each, see Case Status Definitions.

Implementation

Starting a case requires a userId — the team member whose name appears on the welcome message sent to the creditor. This is distinct from assignedUserId, which optionally sets who handles the case ongoing. Retrieve valid user IDs from GET /users before calling this endpoint.

POST https://collectionpartner-api.debitura.com/cases/{id}/start
XApiKey: YOUR_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "userId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "welcomeMessage": "We have received your case and will begin collection proceedings.",
  "collectionPartnerReference": "GET-2025-0042",
  "reminderFees": 100.00
}

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
userId	UUID	Yes	Used to send the welcome message to the client in the chat. Use GET /users to list valid IDs
welcomeMessage	string	Yes	Message sent to the creditor confirming activation (min 10, max 5000 chars)
collectionPartnerReference	string	No	Your internal reference for the case (max 128 chars)
assignedUserId	UUID	No	Team member assigned to handle the case. If omitted, no one is assigned — userId is not used as a fallback
interestFees	decimal	No	Interest fees added to the debtor's obligation
reminderFees	decimal	No	Reminder fees added to the debtor's obligation
collectionFees	decimal	No	Collection fees added to the debtor's obligation

Business context: See Additional Fees for how fees are calculated and applied.

A successful call returns 200 OK:

{
  "caseId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "caseReference": "Q8OAXF3W",
  "status": "Active",
  "activatedAt": "2026-02-27T10:15:00Z",
  "collectionPartnerReference": "GET-2025-0042"
}

Error Handling

Status	Cause
400	Case is not in PendingVerification, userId or assignedUserId is not a valid team member, welcomeMessage is too short or too long, or the case requires custom terms
404	Case does not exist or is not assigned to your agency
500	Internal server error

What's Next

Once a case is active, update case progress to log activities and communicate with the creditor. When a payment is received, record it via the API.