TWFD’s improved rank to lower insurance premiums

It took almost three years, but The Woodlands Fire Department has received an upgraded Insurance Service Office rating.

Ratings from the New Jersey-based ISO are used by the majority of residential and business property insurance providers to calculate premiums.

The ISO ratings range from 10 to one, with the lowest number indicating the highest level of protection. The ratings are based on comprehensive evaluations done on site that factor in everything from stations and equipment and to personnel and training.

The Woodlands’ current ISO 3 rating will improve to an ISO 2 rating, The Woodlands Fire Department Fire Chief Alan Benson said.

“The significance of that particular rating is the reduction in residential property owners insurance rates,” Benson said. “That should be, depending upon the insurance and the property owners’ individual policies, approximately 6-8 percent.”

Reductions in insurance premiums for businesses should be about 2-3 percent, Benson said.

The ISO increase will be automatically reported to insurance agencies when it goes into effect in June, Benson said.

An ISO 2 rating is achieved by less than one percent of all fire departments in the United States.

“That really give you an idea of the commitment and the leadership of all the boards, this board and both the association boards and the fire department board, and their effort to better the service delivery and public safety in our community,” Benson said.

Benson said the department nearly qualified for the highest ISO rating.

“Very few fire departments can boast about a class one rating, however I will tell you that it takes 80 points in this very convoluted evaluation system (be receive an ISO 2 ranking), and we achieved 86.87 points, so we’re just 2.2 points away from a class one fire department,” Benson said.

The ISO 2 rating is good for up to 10 years, and Benson said WFD can ask for a re-rating with the hopes of achieving that rating in a couple years when new facilities, including stations in Indian Springs and Creekside Park, come online.

For more information, about ISO ratings, visit www.iso.com.

By JAKE MUONIO
The Woodlands Villager