Have you ever paid attention to how close the nearest fire department or fire hydrant is to your home?
There are a number of factors that go into calculating your homeowners insurance rate and potential fire damage is just one of them. As it turns out, the proximity of the closest fire department and hydrants are also just part of the equation that insurance carriers use to assess how likely a fire could be put out in your area.
Here’s what you’ll learn about fire damage and homeowners insurance:
To assess how likely fire rescue could respond to a potential fire in your home, insurance experts use a rating system to calculate your premium.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) is responsible for rating how well a potential structure fire can be put out. The ISO fire score is then provided to homeowner insurance companies to help calculate an insurance rate for customers.
The ISO fire rating combines a number of factors to determine the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), including:
When an ISO fire rating is calculated for a particular property, a score or rating of 1-10 is assigned. However, unlike most scores, a lower score is ideal for the ISO fire rating. The lower the score, the more likely a home can be saved from a potential fire.
Additional split classifications are given based on fire department and fire hydrant (or water supply) proximity.
For instance, one score is given for a home within 5 miles of a fire station and 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant or water supply. Another score is given for a home within 5 miles of a fire station and over 1,000 feet away from a fire hydrant or water supply. A third score is given for those homes that are over 5 miles away from a fire station.
Every homeowners insurance policy is unique, so it’s helpful to check with a trusted insurance broker to get the best options. (In fact, some providers — like State Farm — don’t use ISO scores and use their own internal metrics (like historical fire data) to determine fire damage potential.)
That said, if it turns out you have a negative (or high) ISO fire rating because of your home’s location, there are a few steps you can take to improve your fire safety (and therefore your homeowners insurance rates).
Many insurance carriers will offer discounts if you take some (or all) of these steps:
Some homeowner insurance carriers will also provide discounts for safer home designs (where fires would have a difficult time traveling through the home) and home improvement updates (such as building with fire-resistant materials).
Taking steps to fireproof your home will not only create potential homeowners insurance discounts, but it will also help save your family (and your home) from unnecessary fire damage.
As you can see, there are a number of factors involved in determining the fire safety for your home; proximity to a fire hydrant is just one.
Get started by checking rates with a trusted provider. If you need help finding the best homeowners insurance coverage for the best price, talk to a SimplyIOA agent at 833.872.4467 or get a homeowners insurance quote online now.