Baldwin homeowners have better fire protection now according to the Insurance Service Office (ISO). The town’s fire department improved its Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating from a 5 down to a 4 in the most recent round of assessments.
ISO grades are used by many insurance companies to determine risk in an area. The better the fire service, the lower the risk and the better chance of seeing lower insurance costs.
The improved rating reflects a lot of work on the part of Baldwin firefighters. “We’ve done a lot of training. We’ve done a lot of testing. We’ve done a lot of record keeping,” explains Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Tyler, “a lot of different things just to get that rating down.”
Many in Habersham County saw firsthand what a difference a bad PPC rating can mean to the cost of insuring a home. ISO stopped recognizing homes with “subscription fire protection” in 2012. They raised the risk ratings for hundreds of addresses in unincorporated Habersham (those that relied on subscriptions to city fire services). Insurance premiums jumped for some of those folks by hundreds of dollars and others saw their policies cancelled.
Habersham County ISO Ratings
- Clarkesville: 3
- Baldwin: 4
- Cornelia: 4
- Demorest: 5
- Habersham County: 5*
*Habersham County currently has an overall ISO rating of 5 but folks living further than 5 miles from a county fire station or more than 1000 feet from “adequate public water” are ranked at the poor end of the protection scale with a 9 or 10. List of Habersham County fire stations
While bad ratings definitely cost homeowners more, Baldwin’s improved fire protection score won’t necessarily mean big savings. A University of South Carolina study of towns with a similar change on the ISO scale found premiums dropped between 2% to 5% for homeowners. Commercial properties saw slightly higher reductions.
Asst. Chief Tyler says Baldwin firefighters want to make further improvements to fire service before the next ISO assessment, “We’re working diligently to lower it next time.” The ultimate goal for all departments is to get their rating down to a 1 which reflects the best possible protection under the current system.
