ISO what is it?

With the Jackson Township Fire Department seeking funds to purchase a new engine you may begin to hear a lot about ISO ratings. Most people though have never heard of this so we wanted to take a minute to try and explain what an ISO rating is.

Insurance Service Office (ISO)

The Insurance Service Office (ISO) is a for-profit organization that generates reviews and risk assessments for communities and distributes these to insurance companies to assist in their determination of insurance premiums. Started in 1971 they have become one of the leading sources of insurance risk for companies looking to do business across the United States. They are a part of the VERISK Analytics company who now maintain the organization. It is very important to note that neither ISO nor VERISK are going to be your insurance provider, they just work with those providers.

Sources:
About ISO 
ISO FAQ

Public Protection Classification (PPC)

The Public Protection Classification (PPC) is the official name of the ISO rating and produces a score between 1 and 10, with 1 being the best and 10 meaning the requirements are not met. Another title for this would be the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). This entire process is primarily an examination of the fire departments protection capabilities. Put simply it is how effective the fire department would be at minimizing any losses during a fire. The main factors taken into consideration when determining a communities PPC are the Fire Department training and equipment, Water Supply, and Fire Alarms present and responsiveness. What all of this comes down to is how quickly can the fire department be notified (Fire Alarms), respond with the appropriate equipment and trained personnel (Fire Department), and get the needed water (Water Supply) to the scene.

Sources and Additional Information:
Springfield MO
FSRS
VERISK PPC

Why does this matter?

Ultimately, you may be wondering why all of this matters. Put simply a fire department’s effectiveness has a direct impact on your insurance premiums. The ISO or PPC rating is shared with nearly every insurance company that provides coverage for homeowner and renters insurance. The better rated a community can be the lower premiums for those communities tend to be. Now this entire process is much more complicated than what we’ve explained here, but this should provide a quick overview of what’s being referred to when we discuss the benefits to our ISO ratings.