Team 4: Insurance Premiums Doubling, Could Yours Be Next?POSTED: 1:47 pm EST November 18,
2008 PITTSBURGH -- Homeowners insurance premiums are doubling and some policies even being canceled in one Allegheny county community.Could the same thing happen where you live?Team 4 Investigative reporter Jim Parsons tells us it all has to do with a little-known report card for every community's fire department.It's called an ISO rating and it can save you, or cost you, hundreds of dollars on your insurance premiums.What follows is a transcript of Parsons' report.----------------------------------Joe Horn, Coulter Homeowner: "We received a notice that our insurance is going to be doubled. Our homeowners."Joe Horn learned the hard way what happens when a local community gets a poor ISO rating. Joe owns a home in Coulter, Allegheny County, which recently scored a 10 for fire protection. There is no score on the ISO scale lower than a 10. Jim Parsons: "Your ISO rating is a 10. It's the worst rating you can get." Russell Haywood, Coulter Volunteer Fire Department Chief: "I believe we should have a better rating."Whatever the reason for the poor rating, insurance companies are raising premiums on Coulter's property owners, some even canceling policies. Sandy Sten, Wilson Baum Insurance: "What is the impact on homeowners' insurance? It will basically double. So if you have a $500 policy, the people in Coulter are almost $1000. And those homes are not new, not huge. They don't constitute $1000 homeowners premium."ISO, or Insurance Services Office, is a nonprofit agency that sells its fire protection ratings to the insurance industry. The ISO ratings are on a one to 10 scale, 10 being the worst score and one being the best. There are no "ones" in Allegheny County. In fact, the best score is a three, that's Mount Lebanon. Several communities get a four rating, including the City of Pittsburgh, Baldwin Township, McCandless, Monroeville, Penn Hills, Ross, Upper St. Clair, and Wilkinsburg.Communities getting poor ISO ratings are, as we said, Coulter with a 10. There are several sevens -- Bradford Woods, Homestead and Springdale among them. If your community's ISO rating is somewhere down here, you're likely paying a lot more for insurance. And if your score is up here…Nick Sohyda, Mt. Lebanon Fire Department Chief: "That says that your department is better trained. They're going to turn out more people in a quicker time. They have the equipment. You're going to get a higher ISO rating and a lower corresponding insurance rate."And typically, the departments that get better ISO ratings are the ones that are better-funded.Nick Sohyda, Mt. Lebanon Fire Department Chief: "They only have so much time to give. So they can give it delivering a product and training and trying to be prepared. Or they can give it selling fish and working bingo."Here's why some fire departments have to spend more time than others on fundraising. Upper St. Clair's local government contributes almost $200 to its fire department for each resident of the township, for a total of $3.7 million. Reserve Township contributes just $3.39 per resident to its fire department, for a total of $12,000. Mt. Lebanon gives its fire department almost $100 per person for a total of just over $3 million. In White Oak, the fire department contribution from government is $4 per person for a total of $55,000.JC Tedorski, Arnold Fire Department Chief: "We're struggling to find new ways to get money."Arnold Fire chief John Tedorski is an officer with Western Pennsylvania Fireman's Association.JC Tedorski, Arnold Fire Department Chief: "As our economy worsens and people have less disposable income, we're seeing our donations from the public go down and down and down."The obvious solution for many communities is something many firefighters don't want to talk about.Nick Sohyda, Mt. Lebanon Fire Department Chief: "We need to consolidate, we have too many departments in Allegheny County."But for that to occur, elected officials in townships and boroughs have to be willing to make it happen.Nick Sohyda, Mt. Lebanon Fire Department Chief: "Until local government starts asking questions, until residents ask questions, I don't know that they really know what they're getting. "Sohyda says studies also show consolidation means lower ISO scores. For ISO ratings for every city, township and borough in Allegheny county, look in the sidebar to the right of this story.If you don't live in Allegheny County, call your fire chief and ask for the ISO rating. Related Links:
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