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 Introduction
ISO's PPC program accurately measures the quality of public fire protection in 45,000 fire districts across the country
Better fire protection — as measured by the PPC program — leads to lower losses.
The PPC program provides an incentive for communities to improve the quality of their fire protection — and communities respond to that incentive.
When a fire district improves its PPC, the entire community can benefit economically.
ISO's outreach efforts help communities quickly realize the economic benefits of improved public protection.
When a community improves its fire protection, everyone benefits. |
Many fire departments work hard to improve their PPC gradings and take justifiable pride in their achievement. The city of DuBois, Pennsylvania, announces its Class 1 grading on its fire engines and on street signs at the city's borders. |
On average, communities with superior fire-protection services — and therefore good Public Protection Classifications — have lower fire losses than communities whose fire-protection services are not as comprehensive.
ISO reviewed the cost of fire claims per thousand dollars worth of insured property by PPC for communities around the country. The two graphs below — based on five years of data for homeowners and commercial property insurance — show that the communities with better classifications experienced noticeably lower fire losses than the communities with poorer classifications.
The dollar value of a better PPC varies by state. But on average across the country, the cost of fire losses for homeowners policies in communities graded Class 9 is 65 percent higher than in communities graded Class 5.* If a community improved from Class 9 to Class 5, homeowners could expect their premiums for fire insurance to drop substantially.
*According to loss data collected by ISO from insurance companies for accident years 1994 to 1998.
COST OF FIRE CLAIMS PER $1,000 OF INSURED PROPERTY —
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY |
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On average, per $1,000 of insured property, communities in the worst classification had commercial-property fire losses more than three times as high as communities in the best classification.**
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| COST OF FIRE CLAIMS PER $1,000 OF INSURED PROPERTY — HOMEOWNERS |
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On average, per $1,000 of insured property, communities in the worst classification had homeowners fire losses more than twice as high as communities in the best classification.**
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| **Based on premium and loss information that insurers reported to ISO. Excludes data from statistically rated cities. Out of more than 45,000 fire districts in the United States, only 42 have achieved a PPC of 1. Therefore, the data sample for Class 1 is not statistically credible. |
Next Section: The PPC program provides an incentive for communities to improve the quality of their fire protection — and communities respond to that incentive.
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