Source: https://docs.debitura.com/developer-concepts/claim-amount-and-age
# Claim Amount and Age
Two claim-level inputs determine age-based pricing: how much principal remains unpaid and how old that principal is. Debitura's APIs support three aging modes, ranging from one case-level due date to a full invoice-level ledger.
## Three Ways to Define Amount and Age
| Choose | When |
| --- | --- |
| **1\. `amountToRecover` + `dueDate`** | One invoice: one total should have one age |
| **2\. `amountToRecover` + age buckets** | Your integration already calculates cumulative aging totals |
| **3\. `claimLines`** | You have invoice-level open balances, multiple invoices, or a pre-handover part-payment |
The modes answer the same two questions at different levels of detail:
- **Principal:** Modes 1 and 2 take the total from `amountToRecover`. Mode 3 sums `claimLines[].amount`.
- **Age:** Mode 1 assigns one due date to the whole principal. Mode 2 trusts your cumulative totals. Mode 3 derives those totals from each invoice due date.
Default choice
Use one due date for one invoice. Use `claimLines` when a case contains multiple invoices or the debtor paid before handover. Use manual age buckets only when your system already produces trustworthy cumulative aging totals.
## Mode 1: One Amount and Due Date
Send the outstanding principal and one payment deadline:
```json
{
"amountToRecover": 1500.00,
"dueDate": "2025-05-18"
}
```
Debitura treats the entire 1,500 as having the same age. This maps cleanly to a single invoice, but it cannot represent a portfolio in which some invoices are fresh and others are old.
This mode uses the coarser date-based pricing path. Richer age data can produce a different quote for the same total, particularly around the 180-day pricing threshold.
## Mode 2: Cumulative Age Buckets
Send the total principal and the portion beyond each supported threshold:
```json
{
"amountToRecover": 15000.00,
"amountToRecoverOver6Months": 9000.00,
"amountToRecoverOver12Months": 6000.00,
"amountToRecoverOver24Months": 2000.00
}
```
The buckets are **cumulative**, not separate slices. The 9,000 over 6 months includes the 6,000 over 12 months, which includes the 2,000 over 24 months.
```text
amountToRecover
≥ amountToRecoverOver6Months
≥ amountToRecoverOver12Months
≥ amountToRecoverOver24Months
≥ 0
```
| Field | Include an outstanding balance when it is |
| --- | --- |
| `amountToRecoverOver6Months` | More than 180 full days overdue |
| `amountToRecoverOver12Months` | More than 365 full days overdue |
| `amountToRecoverOver24Months` | More than 730 full days overdue |
The comparisons are strict: an invoice enters these buckets on day 181, 366, or 731. The 12- and 24-month fields must be supplied together. The 6-month field is optional, but when present it requires both other buckets.
This mode carries the age distribution, but not the individual invoices behind it. Your integration owns the arithmetic.
## Mode 3: Claim Lines
Send each unpaid invoice with its own open balance and payment deadline:
```json
{
"claimLines": [
{
"dueDate": "2024-01-15",
"amount": 423.42,
"reference": "INV-1001"
},
{
"dueDate": "2025-05-02",
"amount": 700.87,
"reference": "INV-1042"
}
]
}
```
Debitura derives:
```text
amountToRecover = 423.42 + 700.87 = 1,124.29
age buckets = sum of open balances beyond each age threshold
```
Each `amount` is what the debtor still owes on that invoice—not its original face value. Net payments and credit notes before submission, and omit fully settled invoices.
For example, if `INV-1001` was originally 500.00 and the debtor already paid 76.58, send 423.42. This keeps the total and aging based on the same outstanding balances.
Do not mix principal sources
When you send `claimLines`, omit `amountToRecover` and every `amountToRecoverOver...Months` field. Debitura rejects a request containing both.
Claim lines are creation-time pricing input. Debitura stores the derived total and age data, but does not store or show the lines themselves. Put a readable invoice breakdown in `comments` when the collecting partner needs it.
## Availability by API
All three modes are available wherever a public API creates or previews a case.
| API operation | Due date | Age buckets | Claim lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Customer API case creation | Yes | Yes | **Yes** |
| Customer API pricing preview | Yes | Yes | **Yes** |
| Referral Partner API case creation | Yes | Yes | **Yes** |
| Referral Partner API pricing preview | Yes | Yes | **Yes** |
| Collection Partner API `POST /managed-cases` | Yes | Yes | **Yes** |
On case-creation requests, a case-level `dueDate` may coexist with manually supplied age buckets; the buckets provide pricing age while `dueDate` remains the case payment deadline. On pricing-preview requests, send either `dueDate` or the age buckets, not both.
For claim-line creation, a case-level `dueDate` may coexist with `claimLines`. If omitted, Debitura uses the oldest line due date for the case. It does not replace or change the invoice-level aging calculation.
## Choosing Safely
Use this order:
1. If you have per-invoice open balances and due dates, use `claimLines`.
2. Otherwise, if your system already produces cumulative aging totals, send the age buckets.
3. Otherwise, send one `dueDate` and understand that the entire principal receives one case-level age.
Never calculate buckets from original invoice values while calculating the total after payments or credit notes. Every mode must describe the same outstanding principal.
To implement claim lines, follow [Create a Managed Case](https://docs.debitura.com/collection-partners/integration-guides/create-a-managed-case.md), [Create a Case](https://docs.debitura.com/clients/integration-guides/create-a-case.md), [referral-partner case submission](https://docs.debitura.com/referral-partners/integration-guides/case-submission.md), or [referral-partner pricing preview](https://docs.debitura.com/referral-partners/integration-guides/preview-case-pricing.md).