FICO’s New Auto Score Affords Consumers With Medical Accounts in Collections Higher Credit Scores
Credit scores are incredibly important for consumers who are interested in financing a vehicle. Your credit score will heavily impact your auto loan rate as lenders often use it to gauge how financially responsible you are. But who calculates this vital score? While there are several agencies that calculate credit scores, FICO is one of the big boys in the business and has been determining credit scores for over 25 years. Lenders can request different versions of FICO’s credit score depending on what type of credit their customer is seeking. For example, FICO has an industry-specific credit score called the Auto Score that is used for auto lending.
According to nbc4i.com, FICO recently announced that it is releasing a new product called Auto Score 9 XT that is designed to calculate a more accurate credit score for consumers who are seeking auto lending-related loans. While FICO often updates their formulas in order to keep improving their products, this updated version should be of particular interest to credit seekers who have medical accounts in collections as FICO’s new formula distinguishes between unpaid medical accounts that are in collections and non-medical accounts in collections. This distinction means that consumers with medical accounts in collections will likely receive a higher FICO Auto Score under the new system than they previously had. This change should also catch the attention of creditors engaged in medical collections as FICO’s changed formula may be viewed as removing an incentive for debtors to repay their medical debts.
FICO’s New Credit Scoring Model
FICO’s new credit scoring model, Auto Score 9 XT, is designed to provide a more accurate picture of a consumer’s financial health as it analyzes trends while previous Auto Score versions analyzed only a snapshot in time. Nbc4i.com explains that the new version looks at a consumer’s credit card data for the previous 30 months in order to identify trends in their finances. For example, FICO will now look at whether a consumer’s credit card balances are increasing or decreasing over an extended period of time. This method departs from the current formula which simply analyzes the consumer’s credit card balances at a particular moment in time.
Additionally, a FICO press release notes that their new Auto Score formula also takes a new approach to analyzing medical debt. Auto Score 9 XT does not take into account medical collection accounts that have been paid in full, and distinguishes between unpaid medical accounts that are in collection versus other types of debt that are in collections. FICO notes that this change to their formula means that many customers with medical collections in their credit history will have higher credit scores with FICO Auto Score 9 XT than they did under previous versions.
What Can We Do To Help?
If you are a creditor engaged in auto deficiency collections or medical collections in Alabama and are interested in exercising your legal rights, contact the experienced creditors’ rights attorneys at Cloud Willis & Ellis, LLC today by calling our Birmingham office at (205) 322-6060 or our Mobile office at (251) 545-4844.
