ISO valuations are just one of many things insurance companies see when priceting insurance policies. The ISO assessment shows the insurance company how the community is being prepared for a fire. Fire-responding communities may have lower home insurance premiums, but fire-responding communities may pay more for coverage. You can’t search for community ISO ratings, but in most cases, only the insurance company and fire department can look them up, but you can know what they are.
We’ll explain what ISO ratings mean, how they work, and how they affect insurance coverage and premiums in your home.
What is an ISO Fire Assessment?
ISO Fire Rating is the score provided by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to the fire department and insurance companies. The score reflects how the community and area are prepared for the fire. It focuses primarily on local fire departments and water supply, but there are other factors that contribute to the local score.
ISO scores have the power to affect premiums for all homeowners in the area, and in some circumstances, insurers may even deny coverage.
How is the ISO fire rating determined?
The ISO uses the Fire Control Assessment Schedule (FSR) to determine community ratings. FSRS is a manual that lists the most important elements of a local fire prevention system. No matter where in the US, there are four categories that explain the scoring model. Each category has a specific weight, reflecting different aspects of fire prevention.
Once the score is calculated, the ISO assigns the community a Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating. Below are categories that take ISO score into consideration.
| Fire Station: 50% | The overall health of the fire department is assessed in this category based on the number of departments in this area. Additionally, the ISO is considering training firefighters, the number of firefighters and volunteers, as well as maintenance and testing of pumps and other critical equipment. |
| Water supply: 40% | The ISO evaluates each community based on its water supply. During the rating process, the organization will look at the number of fire hydrants in the area, the amount of water available after daily consumption, and whether the community has enough water and water access to use in the fire department to control fire. |
| Emergency Communication System: 10% | This assesses how often the fire department receives and responds to emergency calls. Certain factors that contribute to the evaluation of PPCs include the number of emergency call centre agents and the number of computer-aided dispatch facilities in the community. |
| Community risk reduction: 5.5% | Additional practices and responses are recognized in this category that communities develop towards fire prevention. This includes fire safety education, fire prevention techniques, and fire investigations (ISO considers these points as bonus points). |
The highest PPC score you could receive from the ISO is 105.5. The biggest category is the fire department, which accounts for 50% of the score, but the most difficult part of the improvement is local water supply. A shortage of fire hydrants and access to the right amount of water cannot be easily improved and requires extensive infrastructure development to fix it.
While it is possible to deny household compensation based on an ISO report, many companies use ISO only for part of their calculations. If one company is unable to obtain a policy, you may be able to submit an application to another home insurance provider. Not every carrier denys your coverage due to your local PPC score.
How is the ISO rating used in home insurance?
What does ISO rating have to do with your premium? Lots, potentially. For insurance purposes, an ISO assessment is used to determine the likelihood that a homeowner will file a fire-related claim in the future. A poor ISO rating indicates that you are more vulnerable at home and that your insurance company is taking a lot of risk to extend your policy.
According to the 2024 Lexis Nexis® US Home Trends report, the frequency of fire and lightning claims fell 8.6% between 2022 and 2023. However, catastrophic claims related to the fire have risen by 7%. This indicates that serious wildfire events remain expensive for insurers, even when the number of fire claims could be reduced.
According to the Information Insurance Institute (TRIPLE-I), in 2023, more than $1.2 billion was seen in Lightning-related U.S. homeowner insurance claims. These incredible numbers are why insurers considered ISO ratings when determining premiums.
How much does ISO fire rating affect insurance premiums?
If your fire department has a strong score from the ISO, this suggests to your insurance provider that your home is unlikely to be destroyed by fire. Of course, it can still happen, but it’s not as likely as if you lived somewhere with a bad ISO score.
Homes in areas with poor PPC ratings may see a higher premium to reflect the greater risks the company will take on by ensuring the home. However, some companies may not even be able to look at ISO scores and instead rely on other data to determine risk.
ISO scores are just one aspect among many people that home insurance providers see. Other factors they consider include tornado risk, frequency and strength of the storm, crime rate, and household characteristics.
“In addition to ISO ratings beyond homeowner control, insurance companies will assess the condition of the home’s electrical wiring, thermal equipment, roofing, and even the home’s landscaping to determine fees and eligibility.”
Additionally, each company uses its own pricing algorithm to determine how much the customer pays for coverage. There are so many differences between all insurance companies that homeowners may benefit from comparing quotes from multiple airlines. Each provider will dramatically differ in how they take on risk factors that revolve around fires, particularly those that are fire-centric.
How does ISO fire rating affect premiums?
In 2022, the Insurance Information Institute (TRIPLE-I) found that fires and lightning accounted for nearly one in five people (21.9%) in home insurance claims. The same report found that fire and lightning claims were the most expensive loss of property damage. Between 2018 and 2022, the average fire and lightning claims brought the insured loss to about $84,000. The frequency and severity of fire losses is why many insurers take ISO scores into consideration when determining premiums.
If your fire department has a strong score from the ISO, this suggests to your insurance provider that your home is unlikely to be destroyed by fire. Of course, it can still happen, but it’s not as likely as if you lived somewhere with a bad ISO score.
Homes in areas with poor PPC ratings may see a higher premium to reflect the greater risks the company will take on by ensuring the home. However, some companies may not even be able to look at ISO scores and instead rely on other data to determine risk.
ISO scores are just one aspect among many people that home insurance providers see. Other factors they consider include tornado risk, frequency and strength of the storm, crime rate, and household characteristics.
“In addition to ISO ratings beyond Homan’s control, insurance companies will assess the electrical wiring, thermal equipment, roofing, and even the landscaping of the home to determine fees and eligibility.”
Additionally, each company uses its own pricing algorithm to determine how much the customer pays for coverage. There are so many differences between all insurance companies that homeowners may benefit from comparing quotes from multiple airlines. Each provider will dramatically differ in how they take on risk factors that revolve around fires, particularly those that are fire-centric.
How can I find a home’s ISO rating?
Your home doesn’t have its own ISO Fire Station rating. That’s the area in which it is located. This means you and your immediate neighbors need to do the same ISO fire assessment.
Additionally, your local ISO rating is only given to your local fire department and insurance company. Usually, it will not be made public unless the fire department decides to make an announcement. Some fire departments will provide ratings for your area when they provide a zip code, but they do not need to do that and may reject the request when you contact them.
If you can’t determine your area’s ISO score, there are other ways to calculate how your home is at risk due to the fire. You can get ideas by studying the US interactive maps of the US at the National Interagency Coordination Center, or the National Park Service’s interactive wildfire history timeline. This information may not help you improve your home insurance company’s fees, but it may help you provide context for choosing a career or discussing coverage options.
How can I improve my home’s ISO rating?
Individual homes are not assigned an ISO rating. These assessments are assigned to the community, and the entire community may improve ISO assessments by supporting initiatives to enhance fire department capabilities and emergency communications. While strengthening water supply systems is more difficult, communities can work to improve their water infrastructure by increasing the number of fire hydrants and ensuring that all fire hydrants and water mains are functioning properly.
The community may also influence ISO assessments by establishing proactive measures to address fire risk. These initiatives include fire prevention education programs, communications efforts to promote compliance with the Fire Service Act, or regular building inspections to alert owners of fire risk.
How to make your home more fire resistant
If your home is in an area with a high ISO rating, you may consider these additional steps to reduce your fire risk. These individual steps may probably not affect the ISO rating in your area, but they may reduce the chance of fire damage and earn a lower premium.
- Install a fire prevention system: Consider installing a fire sprinkler system and a smart smoke alarm system in your home in case of a fire. These features not only keep you and your family safer in the event of a fire, but they may also help you earn a home insurance discount.
- Keep your garden going: If you have trees, bushes, or tall grass planted in your home or garden, it can spread wildfires and reach your home. To prevent the fire from growing, it is recommended to clear the vegetation all year round and maintain the garden all year round.
- Fireproof vent upgrade: If you live in an area with a high fire score, upgrading vents with fireproof screens can prevent embers from entering your home and cause a fire.
- Remove the electronics when you leave: If you have been out of the house for quite some time, unplug your appliances and electronics to avoid the possibility of a fire.
- Keep flammable items away from heat sources: This is especially true in the kitchen. In the kitchen, there may be flammable items such as pot holders hanging next to the stove.
- Keep a chimney or wood stove: Clean and inspect your chimneys and wood stoves annually to ensure there is no buildup of creosote that can cause a fire. Install spark arrests at the top of the chimney to prevent embers from escaping and causing a roof fire.
