Effective Feb. 1, the Falcon Fire Protection Districtís Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating will be reduced for many residents of the fire district. Depending on the insurance company, some homeowners could see a reduction in their insurance premiums.An August 2016 ISO audit resulted in a Class 3 rating for properties located within 5 road miles of a Falcon fire station or one of its automatic aid partners, such as Black Forest Fire/Rescue or the Colorado Springs Fire Department. Previously, those properties were rated as either a Class 5 or a Class 7, depending on their proximity to fire hydrants.Properties located more than 5 road miles from a Falcon or automatic aid fire station remain at a Class 10.What is ISO?ISO is an advisory organization that provides information about property and casualty insurance risk. Its Public Protection Classification program assesses the quality of public fire protection services for communities nationwide. This classification applies only to fire protection and does not take into account a communityís risk for natural disasters such as floods, hail or high winds.The PPC rating is just one factor used by some insurance companies to determine homeownerís insurance premiums. However, it is important to note that not all insurers utilize ISOís information.When ISO representatives evaluate a community to determine its PPC, they look at the fire prevention and structural fire suppression capabilities of the areaís fire department. According to the ISO website (http://isomitigation.com), these include the following:
- Emergency communications (emergency reporting and dispatch systems)
- Fire department (equipment, staffing, training, response times, facilities, equipment maintenance and testing
- Water supply systems (amount of water available for firefighting, inspection and flow testing of fire hydrants)
- Fire risk reduction (fire prevention codes and enforcement, public fire safety education, fire investigation)
ISOís PPC grading scale ranges from Class 1, which denotes ìsuperior property fire protectionî to Class 10, which indicates that an areaís fire protection does not meet the minimum criteria established by ISO. As FFPD Fire Chief Trent Harwig explained, ìThe lower the number, the better the capability of the department and the better it is for your homeownerís insurance.î
How FFPD received a better ratingSeveral specific factors helped FFPD qualify for an improved classification. One was the addition of Station 4 in the southwest part of the district. The station is projected to open in March, but ISO allowed it to be included for the purpose of the audit. Another factor was the discovery that ISO did not have accurate records for some commercial fire protection systems in the district. This information was corrected during the audit.Harwig said that aid agreements with other area fire departments also positively affected the ISO score. ìOne of the things that benefitted us was the signed automatic aid agreements with our neighboring agencies,î he said. These agreements allow for fire departments to be automatically dispatched to incidents in other jurisdictions, rather than waiting to be requested by a partner agency.
Steps to lower insurance premiumsThe first step toward potentially lowering homeownerís insurance premiums is making sure the insurer has correct information on file. ìItís important that people check with their insurance carriers and ask what fire district they are under and what fire class they are under,î Harwig said. Much of the Falcon Fire Protection District encompasses properties addressed as Peyton, Elbert and even Colorado Springs. As a result, some insurers have mistakenly applied incorrect ISO ratings to properties within the FFPD, resulting in needlessly high premiums for those homeowners.Homeowners or insurers who are uncertain about which fire district provides services to a particular property can find that information on the property tax bill. The El Paso County Assessor website also provides this information online at http://land.elpasoco.com/. Enter the address and click ìGo,î then click the Schedule Number on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to Tax Entity and Levy Information to find the correct fire district.Next, homeowners should alert their insurance agents and carriers to the reduced ISO rating for the Falcon fire district. Although the new rating will take effect Feb. 1, insurers might not apply the discount right away, waiting instead until the policy renews.Anyone with questions can call the fire district at 719-495-4050, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Information is also posted on the FFPD website at http://falconfirepd.org.
