As of October 31, 2025, Dun & Bradstreet will improve the Failure Score for companies in the United States. This score provides a more accurate picture of the financial health of companies and predicts the likelihood that a company will go bankrupt or have to cease operations within 12 months.
Why this update?
The updated Failure Score was developed based on customer feedback and responds to the need for more powerful and up-to-date risk predictions. Thanks to new data sources, improved data elements, and advanced machine learning methodologies, the score is better aligned with current economic conditions.
Interesting read: Everything about our Failure Score
What does the Failure Score do?
The Failure Score predicts the likelihood that a company will experience financial difficulties within 12 months, such as:
- Requesting legal protection from creditors
- The entering into receivership or reorganization
- Discontinuing activities with outstanding obligations
- Voluntarily ceasing activities without full payment to creditors
For FDIC-insured institutions, there is also a separate model that specifically looks at liquidity, profitability, solvency, and capital ratios.
What's new?
The latest version of the Failure Score builds on modern technology and more comprehensive data. The improvements provide a more reliable and up-to-date risk perception:
- Developed using advanced machine learning methods
- Enriched with new and improved data sources
- Offers higher predictive power and a more accurate risk ranking
- Includes a specific model for FDIC-insured institutions
- Better reflects current economic conditions thanks to an improved failure rate.
What does this mean for your company?
The updated Failure Score for the United States will be available from October 31, 2025.
Do you have American DUNS numbers in your portfolio or do you monitor companies in the United States? Then you can use the new score by adding it to your existing batch files or having it included in a custom API package. The current Failure Score will remain active until the full transition in Q3 2026.
The updated score is only provided when requested via batch or API. This may result in differences in data exports and portfolio comparisons, depending on the access method chosen. If you have any questions, please contact customer service > or your account manager.
