Fire protection numbers improve for Saratoga

Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) ratings have been a hot topic in Saratoga and Carbon County lately.

Town of Saratoga

ISO Rating

Saratoga was recently evaluated by the ISO and assigned a new Public Protection Classification (PPC) number of 4. This is a significant drop from its former rating at a PPC-6. Based on this, residents within the town limits can expect to see a drop in their fire insurance premiums some time in the future. When will depend on individual insurance carriers.

This is because every carrier has their own system for calculating risk. According to Rick Hughes of Farm Bureau Insurance “it usually takes a little while for the insurance companies to get geared into that new ISO rating.” Basically, it takes some time for an insurance carrier to enter the new information into their computer programs that calculate rates, and most customers can’t take advantage of the rate changes until their policy is up for renewal.

Tyler Trevillyan, with Burns Insurance in Saratoga, said, “it probably won’t hit their computer systems for at least year.”

The ISO considers four main factors when determining a PPC number, needed fire flows, emergency communications, fire department and water supply.

Needed fire flows consider representative building locations to determine a theoretical amount of water necessary for fire suppression.

Emergency communications include emergency reporting, telecommunications and dispatching systems.

Fire departments are rated on their equipment, staffing, training, geographic distribution, operational considerations and community risk reduction.

Water supply evaluations include inspection and testing of hydrants, alternative water supplies and “a careful evaluation of the amount of available water needed to suppress fires up to 3,500 gpm,” according to the ISO.

In 2014, the ISO gave 5,216 communities out of more than 49,000 a PPC-4. Only 3,220 communities received a PPC of 1,2 or 3.

Carbon County

Fire District and ISO

The Carbon County Fire District steering committee has recently made claims that with the advent of a fire district the county should be able to see a drop from a PPC-10 to a PPC-9.

According to the steering committees website, “If a Fire District formed, an ISO rating of 9 is very attainable” and “The better the rating will result in lower premiums.”

However, the website cautions voters to “check with your insurance company on what effect a better ISO rating would have on your premium.”

The Saratoga Sun checked with three local insurance agents and received varying responses to questions about the effect of a decreased PPC number on property insurance premiums.

Hughes, with Farm Bureau Insurance, said he has actually run numbers for the outlying communities and there is very little difference between a PPC number of 10 to 9. He said “Ryan Park is a prime example. It moved from a 10 to a protection class 9, and it gives us a little flexibility.”

However, Hughes said the drop in fire policy premiums “doesn’t even come close to what the extra mill levy would be.”

Trevillyan, noted the PPC number is “just one of about 15 things that calculate a premium in the end.” Other major factors include the distance of a property from the nearest fire station and weather patterns.

For example when asked about the how the Old Baldy Club would be affected by the fact that the ISO removed their rating when Saratoga was recently evaluated Trevillyan said, “the thing with it is, it’s still within five miles of the fire department and that is the main thing our companies will look at.”

As far as the potential insurance savings outweighing the new mill levy on unincorporated Carbon County residents, Trevillyan stated “there is no way I could say yes or no.”

Larry Jebens, with Allen Insurance in Rawlins, said he has checked with many of his insurance carriers and with the formation of a fire district, “on renewal of the policies in Carbon County, they would go from a 10 to a 9 and their fire premium would result in a 5% decrease.”

Jebens was clear this is just an average estimate and policies are evaluated on a case by case basis. Jebens also noted the PPC number is one of many factors involved. For instance, as you move further away from the fire department a lot of insurance carriers will have a guideline, such as a five miles, and “then you are not going to get to use that PC rating, every carrier has their own guidelines.”

Jebens said their is more to consider than just the insurance premiums for property and buildings. He said we also need to think about the safety of the people in those buildings. If the fire service can improve response times and bring more modern equipment it can reduce the risk of injury and loss of life.

Another factor Jebens made note of is the benefits of the fire district will be more easily realized on farm and ranch policies, but residential policies will probably not see the same reduction in premiums.

“If you have a dwelling, residence, out in a PC10, a cabin, and you are not farm and ranch, that’s when you are really going to get into how far away are you from a fire station, or a fire hydrant,” Jebens said. “Is it going to help everyone in the county? Probably not. Is it going to help ranches? According to my carriers, it will.”