The business process for an automobile insurance claim consists of the following phases: • Submission: The customer contacts a customer service…

According to Pega best practices, a child case is ideal for handling a part of a business process that can be instantiated multiple times, involves different parties, and can run in parallel. In the automobile insurance claim scenario, a single claim (the parent case) can involve repairs for multiple vehicles. Each vehicle repair is a distinct unit of work, often handled by a different third-party repair shop. Creating a "Repair" child case for each vehicle allows these processes to be managed independently while the parent "Claim" case tracks their overall progress and awaits their completion before it can be resolved.

A. Verification: This is the final, concluding phase of the parent case itself, not a separate, repeatable unit of work that would justify a child case.

B. Submission: This is the initiation step of the parent case. A case cannot be a child of itself or its own starting point.

C. Review: This is a core, sequential stage within the parent case life cycle, typically performed once by the adjuster for the entire claim.

1. Pega Academy

Pega Business Architect (24.1) Mission: In the "Case Design" module

the topic "Creating a child case" explains the rationale for using child cases. It states

"You create a child case when a case includes a separate business transaction that can run in parallel to the main case... For example

an auto accident claim may require separate cases to process the vehicle damage claim for each vehicle involved." This directly maps to the "Repair" phase in the question.

2. Pega Documentation

"Case relationships": The section on "Parent-child relationships" provides guidance on when to use this pattern. It states

"Use a parent-child case relationship to manage complex business transactions. For example

in an auto insurance claim

the main parent case can have multiple child cases for processing claims from each party that is involved in an accident." This confirms that processing individual vehicle-related tasks (like repairs) is a primary use case for child cases within a larger claim.