ISO’s PPCTM Program: Helping to Build Effective Fire-Protection Services

Insurance companies consider it good public policy — and good business — to promote and encourage the efforts of individual communities to improve their fire-protection services. The publication looks at how community fire officials rely on ISO’s Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) program, how they use the program, and why it’s important.

Challenge
Fire is the largest single cause of property loss in the United States. In the last decade, fires have caused direct losses of more than $140 billion and countless billions more in related costs. But that’s not all. Every year, fires injure about 20,000 people. And every year, more than 3,000 Americans die in building fires. A community committed to saving lives and property needs trained firefighters, proper equipment, and adequate supplies of water. Insurance companies consider it good public policy — and good business — to promote and encourage the efforts of individual communities to improve their fire-protection services. The publication looks at how community fire officials rely on ISO’s Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) program, how they use the program, and why it’s important.

Solution
For almost a century, U.S. property insurance companies have funded key initiatives aimed at fire prevention and fire mitigation. In the battle against fire losses, one of the insurance industry’s most important weapons is the PPC program. The PPC program provides important, up-to-date information about municipal fire-protection services throughout the country. A community’s investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. So insurance companies use PPC information to help establish fair premiums for fire insurance — generally offering lower premiums in communities with better protection. The program also provides help for fire departments and other public officials as they plan, budget, and justify improvements.

Techniques
A survey of fire chiefs conducted for ISO by the independent opinion research firm ORC International, and published in January 2001, shows how much community fire officials rely on the PPC program. The survey, based on telephone interviews with a sample of 501 fire chiefs and other fire department officials from across the country, reveals that the PPC program plays an important part in most communities’ decisions on their fire-protection services. Read what the fire chiefs said.

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