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What is the Dun & Bradstreet failure score?
What is the Dun & Bradstreet failure score?

We explain what our failure/bankruptcy score is and how we calculate this.

Anne de Geus avatar
Written by Anne de Geus
Updated over 3 years ago

About the D&B Failure Score

The D&B Failure Score is a mathematically calculated score which predicts the relative chance of bankruptcy, based on statistical techniques and calculating models unique to Dun & Bradstreet. In these calculating models we use a number of historical data elements, which can be identified specifically for prosperous and failing companies, to predict future behaviour and continuity. In the Netherlands, the D&B Bankruptcy score is being calculated based on the following elements:

How is the D&B Failure Score calculated?

The D&B Failure Score in the Netherlands is calculated on the basis of the following elements, among others:

  • General demografic company data: e.g. judicial entity, number of employees, company’s longevity, industrial area.

  • Financial data: e.g. profit and loss figures , financial ratios, trends.

  • Payment experiences: e.g. experiences from the DunTrade® Programme.

  • Collection experiences: e.g. Presence, value and frequency of collection experiences.

Relative risk assessment


The D&B Bankruptcy Score is a relative risk assessment for company bankruptcy, which means that it positions a company in relation to all other companies in the referral country. E.g. A bankruptcy score of 80 means that 20% of the companies in that country/group (benchmark) has a smaller chance, 79% has a bigger chance and 1% has an equal chance of bankruptcy… Then, the D&B Bankruptcy Score is used to calculate the risk indicator of the D&B rating (1 to 4).

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