If you live in the county or thinking of buying a home in the county, you better know the answer to this question.
There is a company that rates fire departments called ISO (Insurance Services Office). They have developed a system of checking the fire department’s ability to fight a fire called Fire Suppression Rating Schedule. This system is used to determine the PPC (public protection class) rating of the fire department, ranging from a PPC 1 to a PPC 10.
A PPC 1 rating is the best rating that a fire department can obtain. Likewise, a PPC 10 rating is the worst rating, which basically means you have no protection. Most of Henderson county fire departments were rated a PPC 9 for years. In recent years, some fire departments have been working hard to obtain a better PPC rate.
The distance to the fire department is important. An example would be a home located in Zion district which carries a PPC rating of 6/9. If the home was within 5 miles of Zion FD and had a fire hydrant within a 1000 feet, that home would qualify for a PPC 6 rating. If the home was within 5 miles of the Zion FD, but did not have a fire hydrant, it would qualify for a PPC 9 rating. If the home was over 5 miles to the Zion FD, then it would be rated as a PPC 10.
Okay, the bottom line: How does this affect my premium? If you fall into a PPC 10 rating, some companies will not write your insurance. Those that do will charge a hefty price to insure your home.
Example: $211,000 frame house in the county. Based on an excellent insurance score, claim free and with the auto/home discount. Actual rates will vary. PPC 10 – $1,617 PPC 9 – $990 PPC 8 – $694 PPC 7 – $554 PPC 6 – $476 How far is your home to your responding fire department? Do you know what your fire department is rated? Do you donate to your fire department or volunteer?
The companies give a multi-car discount that lowers the premium of each car around 20%. So when you go down to one car, that discount is removed. Factors relating to the way the company averages out the age of the drivers makes the calculation more complicated.
