Irrespective of the source you select, FICO score simulators are the same. These simulators comprise five elements past payment history, balance owed, length of credit history, amount of new credit, and the type of credit used.

The past payment history comes in as the biggest part of the pie at 35 per cent. Under this section, they assess your timeliness in paying bills. It would also take account of late payments, bankruptcies, and delinquencies. Every entry of a 30 days late payment, a collection, or a judgment call can reduce your score by 15-40 points each. Similarly, you get a penalty points for 60 day payment.

The next big part is played by the balance owed at 30 per cent. It includes the amount of debt you have accrued on your credit cards, installment loans as well as ratio of the amount owed to amount accessible. There are times when you have no late payment but you still get a low score that may be because you are reaching or exceeding your credit limit.

The length of time your credit has been active takes up 15 per cent. The longer your credit history, the better it is for you. This takes into account how long you have maintained credit accounts and how frequently you use them. Also, if you are considering consolidating your credit cards, think of closing the accounts that are more recent and try and maintain the older accounts.

Any acquisition of new credit is 10 per cent. Lenders tend find it objectionable that you have applied for a whole lot of new credit. It can actually be detrimental to your score.

The types of credit accounts for 10 per cent in your FICO score. These includes credit cards or retail cards and loans such as installment loans, mortgages and car loans. You can loss as much as 20-40 points for such credit.

FICO score simulators are useful for people who are about to buy or rent property. A simulator gives them an idea of what to expect when the realtor runs their credit score.