ISO

ISO Rating

A community committed to saving lives and property needs trained firefighters, proper equipment, and adequate supplies of water. Insurance companies consider it good public policy - and good business - to promote and encourage the efforts of individual communities to improve their fire protection services.

ISO Mitigation Online collects information on a community's public fire protection and analyzes the data using the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). ISO then assigns a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents the best public protection, and Class 10 indicates no recognized protection. Mount Pleasant has an ISO rating of 2/2X.

Insurance

That's why, for almost a century, U.S. property insurance companies have funded key initiatives aimed at fire prevention and fire mitigation. In the battle against fire losses, one of the insurance industry's most important weapons is the Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) program from ISO.

The PPC program provides important, up-to-date information about municipal fire protection services throughout the country. A community's investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. So insurance companies use PPC information to help establish fair premiums for fire insurance - generally offering lower premiums in communities with better protection.

Economic Benefits

By offering economic benefits for communities that invest in their firefighting services, the PPC program provides a real incentive for improving and maintaining public fire protection - and that incentive produces results.

The program also provides help for fire departments and other public officials as they plan for, budget, and justify improvements. But the most significant benefit of the PPC program is its effect on losses. Statistical data on insurance losses bears out the relationship between excellent fire protection, as measured by the PPC program, and low fire losses. And, in a recent survey of fire chiefs, 97% of the respondents said that the PPC program is important in helping the community save lives and property.