Protection Classes (Town Classes)

[Sundance]

Does anyone know of a site to obtain free or at least reasonable pricing to look up protection classes?

[wlunday]

Hi Sundance. I suppose it depends on where you are located, but in Washington State we have a quasi-governmental agency called "Washington State Rating Bureau" that has a web site with the whole state in it, far as I can tell.

Also, Traveler's online personal lines rating system will fill in the blank for you as well. At least up here.

Good luck, and if you find an all-encompassing one, share it!

Swymmer

[Sundance]

I'm in Texas and usually really good at finding free info on the net but so far no luck. I'll keep looking. Thanks!

[Rlevine]

I.S.O. published protection classes in the past. I am not sure if they have it on-line. Also, ISO-Tel is a web based program where you can obtain specific fire rates. They also provide the RCP which the last 2 digits is the protection class.

[St.CaptiveGuy]

You can call the fire department local to that area and tell them the exact address & they can usually tell you.

[insuranceguy33]

You could also go directly to ISO's web-portal (Passport) and order PPC reports for addresses. Not sure what you deem "expensive" but they have special pricing for independent agents on PPC reports, less than 3 bucks for a report that includes PPC and Building Code information.

https://www4.iso.com/passport/app/start.do

Good luck.

[darnovak]

I started up a P&C agency (from scratch) for a large credit union in Northeastern NY in April of 2006. For the community protection classes, we purchased a hard copy subscription from ISO which included the updates for 12 months. As they don't create new fire districts or change protection classes that often, I didn't renew. I then purchased large wall maps from a local map company that designates all fire departments and shows county, city, town, village, and zip code boundaries. I took a pink highlighter and put a nice fat dot on all fire depts shown and where I knew some were but were not on the map. I wrote the names of the depts next to the highlighter dots. If you or your insured do not know which fire dept responds, call the office of the City Clerk, Village Clerk, Town Clerk, or County Clerk. You can also call the County (Fire) Dispatch office. They can also tell you about the water supply to the site you are interested in. Water departments are excellent resources for hydrants and their flow rates, etc. Many county, village, town, and city historians and librarians know a ton of stuff also. Get a map pin and a length of string that equals 5 miles on your map(s). Stretch the string out from the pin at the FD location towards your dwelling/building location and it will give you an idea of the 5 mile distance for the protection classes up to and including PC 9. Once you find someone with knowledge about this stuff, network until your map(s) have as much info written in on them as possible. IGNORE ZIP CODES EXCEPT FOR MAILING ADDRESS ONLY. NY has fire districts which provide "mutual aid". The department with the same name as the zip code origination of the property may not be the responding department. This may not hold true in your state. Find out. ALWAYS GET THE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY AS IT WOULD READ ON A DEED: 248 Johnson Road, Town of Marlboro, Washington County, New York. East side of Grebel Lane about 300' North of Worcester Road (aka Rte 43), town of Miramar, Wilson County, Vermont. 18 Main Street, City of Foxborough, New Jersey. ETC. Zip codes are used only by the USPS for mail delivery, not legal locations of property. Regards,