How Do ISO Fire Ratings Impact Homeowners Insurance Rates?
Find Cheap Homeowners Insurance Quotes in Your Area
Your area's ISO fire rating is a score between 1 and 10 that measures how well your local fire department can protect your community and home. Home insurance companies use the score to help set rates, as a home that is less likely to be severely damaged or destroyed by fire is cheaper to insure.
However, the impact of your area's ISO score on your homeowners insurance policy varies by company. What's more, ISO does not publicly release scores, so it's not easy to find out your area's score or how it affects your rates.
What is an ISO fire rating?
A company called Insurance Services Office (ISO) creates ratings for fire departments and their communities. They calculate how well equipped a fire department is to put out fires. ISO provides this score, often called the "ISO fire score," to insurance companies. The companies then use it to help set homeowners insurance rates. The higher the rating, the less likely your house is to burn down. That makes your home less risky and, therefore, less expensive to insure.
According to ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), four main criteria make up a fire rating score:
- 50% comes from the quality of the fire department, including staffing, training and location of the firehouse.
- 40% is for the water supply, including the number of fire hydrants and how much water is available to put out fires.
- 10% comes from the quality of the area's emergency communications systems (911).
- A bonus 5.5% comes from community outreach, including fire prevention and safety courses.
- Any area that is more than five driving miles from the nearest fire station is automatically rated a 10.
Depending on your state, the maximum score is around 106% on the survey, but any fire department that scores above 90% receives a 1. Very few fire departments receive that ranking — less than one percent of all communities surveyed. A rating of 5 is both the median and most common rating. In general, urban areas tend to have better PPC scores than rural areas, as urban fire departments are closer together and often better funded.
What is my home's ISO fire rating?
Unfortunately, ISO does not provide fire safety scores to the public, so you can't look up your home's PPC rating. However, the organization does provide the information for free to each fire department it inspects. You can usually contact your local fire department to find out their score and when it was last updated.
How does an ISO fire rating impact my insurance rates?
The formulas homeowners insurance companies use to determine rates are complex and constantly changing. But, a lower PPC score for your area may translate to a lower homeowners insurance premium. That's because your home is at a lower risk for serious fire damage, because a prepared fire department can put out a house fire quicker.
How the rating affects your homeowners insurance premium varies by company. And it's often only one of many fire safety factors considered. For example, some companies ask about your home's proximity to a fire station or fire hydrant, as well as whether you have a smoke alarm or sprinkler system. And some companies, namely State Farm, do not use ISO's score at all to set homeowners premiums. Instead, they use their own metrics, based on things like historical fire data.
With that in mind, if your premium has increased due to a negative ISO fire rating, or you're no longer able to get home insurance at all, you may be able to bring your costs down by shopping around for the best homeowners insurance company for your needs.
If your area has a poor fire score, it's a good idea to take extra steps to fireproof your home, such as installing a sprinkler system or smart smoke alarms. Many insurance companies provide discounts to homeowners who take extra steps toward fire prevention, which may help you offset increased insurance costs. What's more, it will simply keep your home safer from fire damage.
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