This is a good question, it's something I've wondered about myself. Of all my cards, almost all of them provide my FICO8 or FICO 9 score....(and a couple of Vantage scores, which I don't care about.) These often not only differ from my true FICO scores, but they usually differ amongst each other as well. My FICO 8 is currently 776 according to one lender, but currently 781 with another lender.
Looking forward to seeing the responses from the experts here....
On Deck: No Plans Currently
This is a pretty consistent "inconsistency" actually. I see it very often among the scores my CC lenders offer.
@Anonymous Normally, I would agree with your statement regarding 5 pts not being a huge deal, but I just got my auto insurance policy renewal which went up $100 from my normal rates. Have been dealing with this just today. Called my insurance agent and they claimed that they pull credit every 3 years to access auto rates and credit is factored into the algorithm. She stated my credit was down from 3 years ago, (which is impossible, my credit is substancially higher) and the difference she was seeing was 6 pts lower than when it was pulled 3 years ago. So I am receiving a $100 increase in my auto premium for having a 776 score, as opposed to what they claim was a 782 three years ago.....with a totally clean driving record for 15 years, no changes.
So, being penalized for having a 776 score.....I mean what do the insurance companies want exactly? Not everyone is fortunate enough to have 850 scores and it isn't like my score dropped to 700 or anything. Makes me wonder how it applies to those who have an 825 score, then 3 years later an 810. Do their rates get raised too?
So I think all platforms should be held acountable for accuracy, and the scores should not have any fluctuations across those platforms. It does matter.
@Anonymous That's exactly what I said.....the agent noted that insurance companies have been paying out a lot for the storm damage recently which could be the reason for the increases. So those of us with flawless driving records and good credit (the primary criteria for their rates, evidently) are suffering the burden because the poor insurance companies got smacked around by mother nature. I haven't made any claims on my policy, why should I be negatively affected? And her excuse was....my credit score dropped a couple points.
That's why I was particularly interested in this topic. I would really like to know why there are fluctuations in reported credit scores among lenders who use the same FICO score (supposedly). And why minor drops in credit score would affect insurance rates so drastically.