Fernandina residents to benefit from improved Insurance Service Office rating

City of Fernandina Beach
Fire Department Press Release
Submitted by Jason Higginbotham, Chief
August 12, 2014 8:26 a.m.

Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) recently evaluated and completed its analysis of the structural fire suppression delivery system provided by the City of Fernandina Beach. The resulting classification for the City of Fernandina Beach is a Class 3, which will become effective November 01, 2014. Prior to the evaluation the City was rated as a Class 5.

ISO’s Public Protection Classification Program (PPC) plays an important role in the underwriting process for insurance companies. In fact, most U.S. insurers – including the largest ones – use PPC information as part of their decision making when deciding what business to write, coverage’s to offer or prices to charge for personal or commercial property insurance. ISO is the leading supplier of data and analytics for the property/casualty insurance industry. Most insurers use PPC classifications for underwriting and calculating premiums for residential, commercial and industrial properties.

Each insurance company independently determines the premiums it charges its policyholders. The way an insurer uses ISO’s information on public fire protection may depend on several things – the company’s fire-loss experience, ratemaking methodology, underwriting guidelines, and its marketing strategy.

Public Protection Classification is important to communities and fire departments as well. Communities whose PPC improves may get lower insurance prices. PPC also provides fire departments with a valuable benchmark, and is used by many departments as a valuable tool when planning, budgeting, and justifying fire protection improvements.

ISO recognizes the dynamic and comprehensive duties of a community’s fire service, and understands the complex decisions a community must make in planning and delivering emergency services. A community’s investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. Statistical data on insurance losses bears out the relationship between excellent fire protection – as measured by the PPC program – and low fire losses. So, insurance companies use PPC information for marketing, underwriting, and to help establish fair premiums for homeowners and commercial fire insurance. In general, the price of fire insurance in a community with a good PPC is substantially lower than in a community with a poor PPC, assuming all other factors are equal.

ISO’s Public Protection Classification program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria, incorporating nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association. A community’s PPC depends on three elements of fire suppression features. These three elements are the emergency communications, the fire department, and the water supply. A review of the emergency communications accounts for 10%, the fire department accounts for 50%, and the water supply accounts for 40% of the total classification score.

ISO has evaluated and classified over 48,000 fire protection areas across the United States using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). The 2014 published countrywide distribution of communities by the Public Protection Classification number is as follows:

For more information, visit www.fbfl.us/Fire or contact Fire Chief Jason Higginbotham at (904) 310-3150.