Public Protection Classification

Taking into consideration the nuances of the property you’re insuring can help you take charge of multifaceted risk factors.

Fully understanding the peril of wildfire and the primary risk factors involved is crucial to accurate property underwriting. FireLine® Risk Reports can help keep you informed about the location and number of at-risk properties

Mitigate provides objective, countrywide fire protection data to help fire protection officials evaluate and improve their emergency preparedness.

A new Verisk study shows how fire station type fares in predicting fire loss, alone and in combination with ISO’s Public Protection Classification (PPC).

It’s important for insurers to understand advances in fire science and how they assess a community’s adaptation to evolving challenges in fire protection.

ISO’s Community Hazard Mitigation works closely with fire departments and communities through our Public Protection Classification (PPC®) program, which develops classification of community fire suppression capabilities on a scale of 1 (exemplary) to 10.  Many Insurers use PPC ratings as a measure of the risk of fire losses in a community, an important item to consider when determining premiums for property insurance.

Recent record-breaking, destructive California wildfire seasons highlighted insurance issues that drove the introduction of over 17 bills during the 2017–2018 state legislative session.

Insurers measuring the level of protection in a community need to know which station responds first to every address, who and what are inside those stations, where the firefighters get their water, and a host of other data points.

Verisk's FireLine categorized more than 99 percent of the Mendocino Complex Fire area as at risk, with over 94 percent at high or extreme risk.

Fire protection in the United States didn’t grow up overnight. It arose and evolved piece by piece, and to this day, fire protection is changing in large and small ways. Any measure of its effectiveness requires trust from the fire service that the evaluators are fair and knowledgeable—and trust takes time to build.

ISO Community Hazard Mitigation actively works with fire departments, building departments, water suppliers, and municipalities with our Public Protection Classification (PPC), Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS), water outreach, and emergency communication center review programs. With your participation and cooperation, we will attain our ultimate goal: safer communities.

Plotting the distance to the nearest fire station seems like the obvious path for an insurer to take when measuring fire protection.

May 4 is International Firefighters’ Day, a time to honor the dedicated men and women who put themselves at risk to protect our communities and, of course, to remember those who have been injured, were sickened, or gave the ultimate sacrifice while doing so. The day has been observed since 1999 in countries all over the world.

Verisk reached a national milestone this past February with the recording of 8.9 million hydrants in its GIS fire hydrant database. The GIS database is the only one of its kind in the United States and includes the precise location and functionality of each hydrant as well as other static water supply sources.

Verisk estimates that industry insured losses from the Tubbs, Pocket, Nuns, Atlas, Redwood, and Sulphur fires in California will be between $2 to $3 billion.