Insurance savings questionable if ISO rating lowered

Thursday, July 12, 2012

As Jefferson City firefighters campaign for a proposed one-fourth-cent sales tax, a selling point has been that the funds used will address deficiencies within the department, which they say would lead to lower insurance rates for property owners.

But whether rates would actually be lowered is questionable and would be based on many factors, some outside the city’s control. And it likely won’t be for another decade or more until homeowners even had a chance for lower rates.

This week, the city announced it has retained its class 3 ISO rating.

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JCLifer 11 months, 1 week ago

Is there a list of other Missouri cities and their ISO ratings? I'd like to know the ratings of other nearby cities, as well as cities like Springfield, Joplin, St. joe, Wentsville, sedalia, etc.

mleroux 11 months, 1 week ago

The News Tribune sent an inquiry to the Insurance Services Office requesting that information. The office responded saying they consider the work to be a "proprietary work product" and as such stated "it is not our role to provide this data in a public forum." However, individual cities usually release this information when requested. Columbia and Springfield both have a class 2 rating as of 2009. Joplin's website lists that it has a class 3 rating. The Wentzville Fire Protection District's website shows the City of Wentzville has a class 5 rating. Information on St. Joseph and Sedalia was unavailable.

Madeleine Leroux/News Tribune reporter

JCLifer 11 months, 1 week ago

Thanks. Interesting response...

JCLifer 11 months, 1 week ago

This info does seem to be somewhat ellusive. The best I can tell from Google searches is that there are two cities in Missouri with ratings of 1 and/or 2; Seven cities in Missouri with ISO ratings of 3, and a whole bunch of cities with ratings of 4.

Looks to me like Jeff City Fire Department is doing a pretty good job for us!

tonto_goldberg 11 months, 1 week ago

Someone at ISO is blowing smoke at the inquisitive reporter. We have a recent example of how things really work - the Southern Boone County Fire Protection District built a new fire station north of the golf course a few years ago, and some insurance companies re-rated the area immediately.

Littleinvestor 11 months, 1 week ago

ISO is a consulting business, servicing the insurance industry. ISO is PAID for its work by insurance companies, why should they give it away free to just anyone? Wouldn't that destroy their business? Not all insurance companies pay ISO for their ratings but do their own.

tonto_goldberg 11 months, 1 week ago

It's bad PR and bad form. The ISO person could have explained the process without disclosing any of that so-called proprietary information. The inquisitive reporter, and the readers would have probably been satisfied with that.

BillyJoeRayBob 11 months, 1 week ago

There are volunteer fire departments in the U.S. that have ISO 1 ratings. It's not about how much money you spend; it's about the quality of training and how you utilize your available resources. For some reason, fire departments in this area of the country think they have to be paramedics and roll trucks with a crew to every ambulance call. That's what ambulances, EMT's and paramedics are being paid to do. They could save a lot more than they would ever raise with a tax increase if they would honestly evaluate what they really need to be doing and how to spend the money they already have. You know, the old saying about firemen is they eat until it's time to sleep and then sleep until it's time to eat. Maybe the city could put them to work performing other tasks in their down time which would save the city even more money.

tomsawyer 11 months, 1 week ago

I guess police officers just sit in donut shops all day too, huh?

The city DOES put them to work doing other tasks. Ive seen a truck on 179 mowing an empty lot where their fire station is supposed to be built in a couple years.

BillyJoeRayBob 11 months, 1 week ago

God created policemen so firemen could have heroes too !! Mowing in their down time is great .. if the whole fire department could collectively cover the work of 5 city public works employees in their down time, they would save the city about $250,000 with benefits, etc included. Even better, they could spend their spare time figuring out how to use their current dollars more efficiently. I bet if you gave a firemen $1 for every $10 they save the city, they would identify all kinds of savings.

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