News
Williamson County ESD #2 Receives Class 2 ISO Rating
August 8th, 2005
ISO Class 2 – Saving you Money
Effective August 1, 2005 the Williamson County Emergency Services District (ESD) #2 will have a Class 2 Public Protection Classification from the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO). The previous rating was 6 for the southern portion of the district and 9 for the northern portion.
In more than 46,000 fire districts in the United States, ISO collects information about a communities’ fire protection system and assigns a Public Protection Classification – a number from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary fire protection, and Class 10 indicates the fire suppression program in that area does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.
Insurance companies use ISO’s Public Protection Classifications (PPC) in marketing, underwriting, and pricing homeowner’s and commercial property 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. The ISO rating evaluation consists mainly of three areas: receiving and handling of fire alarms, the Fire Department, and water supply.
The improvement in the PPC rating for Williamson County ESD #2 was the culmination of effort that began over three years ago by Sam Bass Fire Department, Brushy Creek M.U.D., Fern Bluff M.U.D., Williamson County Dispatch Center and Williamson County ESD #2 to achieve this better rating. Everyone in Sam Bass Fire Department’s district should experience a higher level of fire protection services due to improved facilities and equipment and increased staffing that was implemented to qualify for the Class 2 rating. The move from a Class 6 & 9 to a Class 2 rating should result in significantly lower insurance premiums for residential property owners as well as for commercial property owners.
Examples
Examples of possible savings on fire insurance premiums might be:
*A brick veneer type residence with a ISO PPC of 9 that improves to the ISO PPC of 2 should see a reduction of approximately 38.9% in their fire insurance premiums.
*A brick veneer type residence with an ISO PPC of 6 that improves to the ISO PPC of 2 should see a reduction of approximately 18% in their fire insurance premiums.
Commercial properties that have an ISO PPC rating improvement from a 6 to a 2 should see a fire insurance premium reduction of approximately 18%.
NOTE: The PPC number developed by ISO is one of several elements considered in the calculation of individual property insurance premiums by numerous insurance companies. Individual savings may vary.
• Source: Texas Department of Insurance, State Fire Marshal’s Office
For more information see:
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/fire/fmppcfaq.html
