D&B Failure Score: What It Means and Why it Changes

What Is the Failure Score?

The D&B Failure Score (formerly the Financial Stress Score) predicts the likelihood that a business will, in the next 12 months, seek legal relief from its creditors or cease business operations without paying all its creditors in full.

Dun & Bradstreet introduced an updated version of the U.S. Failure Score, known as Failure Score v8, on October 30, 2026, with the new score introduced gradually over the following weeks.

Failure Score v8 uses expanded data insights, new data sources, and advanced modeling methods designed to improve its ability to predict business failure.

D&B Failure Score v8: What You Need to Know

• The production release of Failure Score v8 began on October 30, 2026.

• Failure Score v8 uses expanded data insights, new data sources, and advanced modeling methods.

• On average, the new score predicts 30% more bankruptcies compared with the current version.

• Dun & Bradstreet estimates that approximately 70% of scored U.S. businesses will experience a change in Failure Score Risk Class as part of the update.

• A change in Failure Score does not necessarily mean something negative recently happened to a business.

• The new score will be introduced gradually, so not all businesses will receive an updated score at the same time.

Why Did Dun & Bradstreet Update the Failure Score?

The business environment continues to change, and Dun & Bradstreet continually invests in its data and analytical methods to improve predictive insights.

Failure Score v8 incorporates expanded data insights, new data sources, and advanced modeling methods to improve predictive performance and help customers assess business risk.

On average, the new score predicts 30% more bankruptcies compared with the current version.

Is the purpose of the D&B Failure Score changing?

No. Failure Score v8 continues to assess the likelihood that a business will seek legal relief from creditors or cease operations with unpaid debts within the next 12 months.

What is changing is the model used to assess that risk.

Like the D&B Delinquency Predictor Score, the risk information is classified in three ways, from the broadest (the class) to the most specific (the score.) The classifications are:

1. A score between 1,001 and 1,875, where 1,001 represents businesses that have the highest probability of failure and 1,875 represents businesses with the lowest probability. This score provides a direct relationship between the score and the level of risk and enables the more granular cutoffs typically used in automated decisioning.
2. A percentile between 1 and 100, where 1 represents businesses that have the highest probability of failure and 100 represents businesses with the lowest probability. The percentile shows where a company falls among businesses in the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud and is most effectively used to rank a portfolio from highest to lowest risk of business failure.
3. A class between 1 and 5, which segments the scoreable universe into five distinct risk groups, with 1 representing businesses that have the lowest probability of failure and 5 representing businesses with the highest probability. The class helps you to quickly segment new and existing accounts into risk groupings to determine appropriate credit policies.

Why Does the D&B Failure Score Matter?

The Failure Score is designed to help you predict a business’s potential for failure. It uses the full range of Dun & Bradstreet information, including financials, comparative financial rations, payment trends, public filings, demographic data, and more to provide more predictive insight. Using the Failure Score may help you drive growth and increase profitability by:

• Automating decisions for increased efficiency

• Processing large volumes of transactions more quickly

• Moving valuable resources away from clear approve/decline decisions and focusing them on more complex credit decisions

• Enabling more consistent decisions

• Applying scores across an entire portfolio to quickly identify potential risks and opportunitiesy

• Helping to prioritize collections

• Helping satisfy regulatory requirements for a timely, consistent, and objective decisioning process

Why Did My D&B Failure Score Change?

A Failure Score can change as new information about a business becomes available. With the introduction of Failure Score v8, a score may also change because of the updated scoring model.

Failure Score v8 uses expanded data insights, new data sources, and enhanced modeling methods to assess business risk. As a result, a score change may reflect the updated model as well as new information about the business.

Dun & Bradstreet estimates that approximately 70% of scored U.S. businesses will experience a change in Failure Score Risk Class as part of the v8 update.

Does a change mean something negative happened to my business?

Not necessarily.

A Failure Score may change because of the updated scoring model or because of new information about your business. A change in score, by itself, should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that something negative recently happened to your business.

Review your updated Failure Score together with the available information in your business credit profile for additional context.

How Is the D&B Failure Score Calculated?

Dun & Bradstreet aggregates company information from a variety of sources. These include public records, financial statements, and past payment experiences. The Failure Score also weighs a company’s demographics against those of similar firms in the same industry. Some data elements used to calculate the score are:

• Company Type – In general, businesses that are corporations are considered less risky. These businesses can typically secure additional financial support if necessary.

• Age of Business – How long a business has been operating is a measure of stability. The more years a firm has been operating, the lower the risk.

• Lawsuits, Liens, Judgements – The presence and number of open suits, liens, or judgements. (Dun & Bradstreet is the only credit data provider that has public lawsuit filings.) The absence of public filings is considered a positive factor.

• Net Worth – A negative net worth is an indication of higher failure risk, whereas a higher net worth is correlated with a reduction in failure risk.

• Trade Data – The model incorporates the percentage and dollar amount of satisfactory payment experiences in the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud. The higher the percentage of satisfactory trade experiences, the lower the risk. Also, the higher the total number of trade experiences, the lower the failure risk.

How Can I Check My Business’s Failure Score?

Reviewing your Failure Score together with the other information in your business credit profile can provide additional context for your business. You can monitor changes to your company’s business credit scores and ratings to better understand how your company is viewed in the marketplace. D&B Credit Insights offers free and paid versions for businesses at different stages. The Free version shows you directional changes when a score goes up or down. The paid version shows you the actual scores in your business credit profile.  

If you want to check the score of another company, you can purchase a Business Information Report and monitor changes to its file as well. Business Information Report Snapshot shows you a one-time report, while On Demand allows you to continuously monitor business scores.

Who Can Check My Business’s Failure Score?

Suppliers, lenders, landlords, and customers are just a handful of business partners who could be interested in your company’s Failure Score. Businesses and financial institutions often consult Dun & Bradstreet’s credit scores to help manage risk. A poor Failure Score could make it difficult for your business to access capital or result in less generous loan terms. You could also potentially miss out on lucrative contracts due to concerns about your business’s ability to fulfill its financial obligations.

How Can I Help Impact My Business's Failure Score?

You can take steps to ensure Dun & Bradstreet has up-to-date information about your firm, which may help impact your scores and ratings. You can also regularly check your business’s credit profile so that potential errors and omissions can be spotted early on. (To learn more about updating your business information for free, visit D‑U‑N‑S^® Manager.) Trade References may also help potentially impact scores and ratings, and they can be proactively submitted to Dun & Bradstreet for review, verification, and possible acceptance. Finally, D&B Credit Insights is a free tool that will alert you to changes in four of your company’s scores and ratings, so you always know what’s going on with your file.  
 
Paying your bills on time and proactively submitting Trade References^* to Dun & Bradstreet for review, verification, and possible acceptance may help impact your D&B Failure Score.

If your Failure Score changes during the introduction of Failure Score v8, remember that a change may reflect the updated scoring model as well as new information about your business.

Understanding Your D&B Failure Score

Your D&B Failure Score is one source of information that can help you understand how your business may be evaluated for risk. As Failure Score v8 is introduced, remember that a change in your score may reflect the updated scoring model as well as new information about your business.

Review your Failure Score together with the information available in your business credit profile for additional context.