So what exactly is an ISO rating, and what does this new rating mean? ISO stands for Insurance Service Organization, and what they do is evaluate and assess fire protection in municipalities and counties throughout the United States. In each community, ISO analyses data on fire protection (generally from what is known as a Fire Suppression Rating Schedule or FSRS) and assigns the district a Public Protection Classification number. These numbers are like a grading system, and range from Class 1 (most desirable) to Class 10 (least desirable).

The test is divided into three different areas. The three areas include: Fire Department, Water Supply System, and Communications System, making this a community level achievement. The Fire Department section accounts for 50% of that final scoring. As you can see in the pie chart, the Fire Department section is broken down further into Training, Personnel, and equipment sections. The other two evaluated areas are water supply which accounts for 40% and communications which is 10% of the overall rating.

What does this mean to our district, and you? Your home insurance rates are based on many different factors, such as your credit rating, the fire department’s ISO rating, and previous losses. Most insurance companies utilize the ISO ratings when calculating your premium (although some carriers use a different format). Our previous ISO rating for our Fire Protection District was a 5, the new rating of 3, which puts our district in the top 6% of all municipalities in the State of Illinois! Please check with your insurance carrier, to discuss our new ISO rating and see what kind of a difference it can make for you.

The Norwood Park Fire Protection District takes great pride in announcing this achievement, and in exceeding this higher level of expectation within our district!