Insurance Services Offices (ISO)

In areas where the McHenry Township Fire Protection District has hydrants, we received a #2 rating.

In areas where the McHenry Township Fire Protection District has no hydrants, we received a #3 rating.

Although the ISO rating is meant to score a fire department’s ability to protect the community, it is not a perfect measure of a fire department, as many factors come into play.

But what exactly are ISO ratings for fire departments? ISO stands for Insurance Services Office (ISO), which is an independent, for-profit organization. The ISO scores fire departments on how they are doing against its organization’s standards to determine property insurance costs.

A few examples of what ISO evaluates are:

• Type and extent of training provided to fire company personnel
• Number of people who participate in training
• Firefighter response to emergencies
• Distributions of stations
• Communications
• Maintenance and testing of the fire department's equipment
• Available water

After analyzing the data it collects, the ISO assigns a Public Protection Classification (PPC) on a scale from 1 to 10. The higher the ISO fire protection class (with Class 1 being the best), the “better” the department – at least in the eyes of the ISO.

To determine ISO rating for fire departments, the organization conducts a field survey and scores your department across four key areas using the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS).

These areas include Emergency Communication Systems (10 points); Fire Departments, covering personnel, capabilities, training, equipment, etc. (50 points); Water Supply (40 points); and Community Risk Reduction (extra credit of up to 5.5 points). It uses a 100-point scale (with the potential of 105.5 with the Community Risk Reduction extra credit), and the more points you score, the better your ISO fire rating.

Lower Insurance Premiums

While it’s a common perception that homeowners’ insurance premiums are directly tied to the ISO fire rating, this isn’t necessarily true. Many insurers do provide discounts for lower PPC scores, but their rating structure is complex and constantly changing.

McHenry Township Fire Protection District completed our last ISO evaluation in 2019. The results from that evaluation are as follows:

In areas where the McHenry Township Fire Protection District has hydrants, we received a #2 rating.

In areas where the McHenry Township Fire Protection District has no hydrants, we received a #3 rating.