iso

Insurance Services Organization (ISO)

Last year the Oran Fire Protection District saved you money!!!!!!
At first glance this statement may seem to be wrong. You might be thinking that if the
fire department saved you money last year, you would remember the time, place and
type of emergency. But, even if you do not call us for a house fire, car fire or any
other type of emergency you still used and benefited from the operations of the Oran
Fire Protection District.

This is true because every time you pay your insurance premium you are saving
money compared to other Scott County tax payers. This is due to the excellent
Insurance Services Organization (ISO) rating that the Oran Fire Protection District
(class 5) currently holds. At a class 5, you are paying less for insurance for the same
level of protection than anyone in Scott County. Less than citizens of Sikeston (class
6), Chaffee (class 7), Benton (class 7), Scott City (class 7), Morley (class 8), Miner
(class 7) or anywhere in Scott County. In fact the only two department's with a better
rating in Southeast Missouri are the City of Cape Girardeau and City of Jackson,
both at a class 4.

This is an important point to remember since it proves that the Fire Department
provides more than peace of mind for the average tax payer. The amount saved on
insurance, often exceeds the amount of tax paid to the fire department, when
compared to our old rating of a class 8. Their are not many taxes which can claim a
direct impact in saving money for a taxpayer.

The value of your fire taxes are fairly high even before you consider the emergency
services they make possible for our community. When you consider the dollar return
and the services they provide, it is clear that your fire tax provides an exceptional
value for you and our community.

In order to determine your savings just contact your insurance agent and ask what is
the difference between your current policy of a class 5 and that of a class 8. It may
be a good idea to call just to make sure you are credited with a class 5. My
insurance company had me listed as a class 6 until I notified them that this was
incorrect.

What is ISO?
Insurance services organization is the group responsible for grading fire departments
on their ability to limit damage from fires. This is an independent group who comes in
and evaluates a department in many different areas. The three basic areas account
for the following percentage:

Fire Department 50%
Water Supply 40%
Communications 10%

These evaluations are very detailed and for the fire department they consider
everything from specific items carried on fire trucks, number and type of trucks,
number and placement of fire stations, training, number of members and many other
areas. In water supply they evaluate the size of water mains, amount of water in
storage, number, type, testing, and location of hydrants. For communications the
number of dispatchers on duty, number of phone lines at dispatch, method of
power backup, listing of department phone number and many other areas are looked
at.