Insurance score improves

The review looks at fire department operations, water source and
communications.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — That fire hydrant by the road, and the water line feeding it, can be significant to the bottom line of nearby businesses, as well as safety.

Things such as number of fire hydrants and extension of water lines can lead to lower premiums from insurers using the latest Insurance Services Office Public Protection classification.

Also factored in are a community’s fire stations, number of firefighters, their equipment and training.

Poland’s improved score for fire service and water availability, for example, could mean lower insurance costs for business owners in the village and the township.

The village and township racked up a 3 and 4, respectively, on the latest ISO classification. The improved score takes effect Nov. 1.

That’s an increase for both communities from 1996, the last time the report came out. Eleven years ago, both communities earned a 5.

A lower rating — from 1 to 10 — means a better score.

Fire Chief David “Chip” Comstock of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, which covers the village and township, attributed the difference in score between the two entities to the few fire stations in the township.

The ratings figure in fire stations, number of firefighters, equipment, training, number of fire hydrants and water availability.

Comstock believes extension of water lines in the areas of the township as well as new equipment and more extensive training for firefighters figured in to the better score.

“There’s been a lot of work over the last 10 years,” the chief said.

The numbers are used by some insurance companies in determining insurance rates for property owners.

“The lower the number, the lower the insurance premium,” Comstock said.

It affects commercial property more than residential, he said.

John Taylor, president of Paige & Byrnes Insurance, Warren, said that a homeowner’s rate is the same in a community if it scores between 1 and 6. But a couple of numbers’ difference can have a positive effect on insurance rates for business owners, he said.

Communications, or receiving and handling fire calls amounts to 10 percent of the score, the fire department’s evaluation adds up to 50 percent with water supply providing the remaining 40 percent.

Both the village and township are served by Aqua Ohio.

The insurance industry uses the numbers to determine fire insurance costs for home and business owners.

“It’s significant because the lower the number, the better the chances for lower cost on insurance,” said Mary Jo Hudson, director of the Ohio Department of Insurance.

The information can be useful when a business owner wants to locate in a particular area. She advises that business owners check with an insurance agent to determine a community’s ISO rating and possibly ascertain basic insurance costs.

A spokesman for ISO, based in New Jersey, wouldn’t speak to the specifics of Poland’s improved rating. But Peter Gau, in an e-mail, said that in general, an improved protection class can lead to lower premiums from insurers that use the ratings, all other factors remaining equal.

At a 3 rating, the village matches the best scores in the Mahoning Valley. Both Howland and Youngstown also earned a 3 on their most recent ISO review.

No Ohio community scored a 1, according to a list provided by the Ohio Department of Insurance.

The fire department evaluation sums up hydrant and hose testing and the number of training hours among the list of criteria, said George Brown, Howland fire chief.

“A 3 puts you in the top 3 percent in the nation,” Brown said. ISO last visited the township for review in 1992.

Youngstown Chief John O’Neill said that a community may contact ISO requesting a review if it believes some change merits a better rating. Usually the organization visits a community every 15 years, he said.

Canfield City earned a 4 while the township scored a 4/9. The lower score is for areas of the township without hydrants and not served by municipal water, said Chief Robert Tieche of the Cardinal Joint Fire District which covers the city and township. That’s primarily less populated parts of the township located west and south of the city.

“Water is 40 percent of the rating,” Tieche said.

ISO’s last Canfield review was about four years ago.

But the chief said that with funds from an equipment levy passed last year, the department is trying to bolster the score. The district bought a 2,500-gallon pumper tanker truck to allow water to be shuttled to areas not served by hydrants and a municipal water source.

That plan also will involve mutual aid from surrounding departments. When that’s been finalized, the department will ask ISO to review those areas again to try to improve the score, Tieche said.