Thanks to Addison’s hardworking and resourceful firefighters it appears residents are in store for significant reductions in their homeowners insurance premiums.
‘The credit goes to the guys in the department,? said Addison Fire Chief George Spencer. ‘They did an awesome job.?
Last week, the department learned that as of Sept. 1, the township’s Public Protection Classification (PPC), as determined by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), went from a Class 9 to a Class 5.
Even more impressive, the Village of Leonard went from a Class 9 to a Class 3.
‘I believe (Leonard’s) is the largest single drop in ISO classification in state history,? Spencer said.
The previous record-holder was Groveland Township, which dropped from a Class 9 to a Class 4 in 2007. ‘I think we stole that away from them,? Spencer said.
PPC ratings are used by the ISO to determine the level of fire protection in communities. The numerical grading system ranges from Class 10 (the worst, no fire protection) to Class 1, which is the best available.
Addison was rated as a Class 9 back in 1994. Normally, reevaluations are done every 15 years, according to Spencer, but Addison had their’s a little early.
ISO classifications play an important role in the decisions many insurance companies make affecting the availability and price of property insurance.
‘PPC ratings are the foundation on which insurance companies build their premium schedules,? Spencer explained. ‘They actually use them as a starting point to build a premium structure so they can price your insurance for you.?
As a result, the 2,400 households in both the village and township will most likely experience a savings in insurance premiums.
Spencer indicated that according to his insurance agent Steve Craft, of the Craft Insurance Company in Clarkston, ‘a drop from a (Class) 9 to a 5 usually saves the average homeowner between $200 and $400 a year.?
‘That’s in a normal, everyday house,? he said. ‘If I’m living in a straw house with no water in it, sure, my insurance premiums are probably not going to change much.?
Greg Clay, owner of the Curtis Insurance Agency in Oxford, looked at some of his current accounts in Addison to see what would happen to homeowner rates.
‘Based on our review of actual accounts, we have found that the rates in Addison Twp. could go down by 14-30 percent,? he said. ‘The rate change we see in Leonard is approximately 25 percent. This is the perfect time for homeowners in the township to shop for insurance.?
‘We’re sending out a flyer with the (township summer) tax bills to explain to homeowners and residents how to actually get a reduction in your ISO (rating) and how to call your insurance company to tell them my fire department’s improved their PPC class or what they call their town class,? Spencer noted.
The fire department started the whole process of making the necessary improvements to achieve a better rating five years ago. Choosing not to hire a paid consultant, fire personnel did all the work in-house, from research and training to retrofitting trucks and obtaining donated equipment.
‘It’s completely attributable to the guys at the fire department,? Spencer said. ‘When you give them a task and a little bit of leeway to perform their skills, they’re incredible.?
ISO ratings are based on evaluations of the fire department, which counts for 50 percent, water supply (40 percent) and emergency dispatch services (10 percent).
Because neither the township nor the village has a municipal water system, the fire department picked up the 40 percent for water supply.
The ISO rating schedule allows for dry hydrants, tanker trucks, ponds, lakes and streams to take the place of a municipal water system as long as the fire department can demonstrate that the water can be provided.
‘We’re responsible for 90 percent of the grading,? Spencer said.
To compensate for the lack of municipal water, the fire department did a number of things including identifying 36 certified water supplies (ponds, lakes and streams) to draw from in emergencies.
They measured each water supply’s depth, verified its volume and researched the hydrodynamics of the property to see how it was fed and if springs were involved.
Firefighters also utilized the National Weather Service website to analyze drought data and make sure each water supply could withstand a 50-year drought.
When everything was compiled, they had the township engineer verify their research and sign off on it.
Training for almost a year, firefighters did other things such as laying more than 48,000 feet of hose and pumping close to 500,000 gallons of water, all in preparation for a one time ‘do or die? ISO evaluation.
When the ISO tested firefighters on Nov. 7-8 last year, Spencer said ‘the crew performed flawlessly.?
As a result of all this, Spencer said the fire department is now ‘certified to deliver 850 gallons a minute up to 4,200 feet away from any certified water supply within the township.?
To put these ISO ratings in perspective, Spencer said of the 23 Class 3 departments in the state, Leonard has the only one to achieve this without a municipal water supply.
With regard to Addison’s Class 5 rating, of the 291 Michigan departments with that classification, less than 5 percent (or approximately a dozen) of them achieved it without a municipal water supply.
‘We’re in a pretty elite group,? Spencer said. ‘We’re on par with Troy and Pontiac and everyone else who’s a Class 3 or 5.?
Although a huge factor, water supply wasn’t the only thing that helped improve the department’s rating.
Firefighters were creative when it came to obtaining the necessary equipment, too.
‘The crew came up with some pretty ingenious ways to minimize costs so we could get the stuff that ISO says you need on your trucks,? Spencer said. In one case, they turned an old ambulance into a service unit that carries extra equipment to a fire scene.
Firefighters were also quite good at obtaining donations. Lt. Dave Edwards canvassed people he knew at other fire departments for equipment donations and came up with 14 self-contained breathing apparatus, each of which costs $4,500 to $5,000 when new.
‘The amount of donations was absolutely incredible,? Spencer said.
Having the 95-foot 1981 aerial ladder truck, which the township leased in August 2007, also made a big difference in the ISO rating.
Spencer speculated that piece of equipment probably helped the township and village each improve by one whole class. ‘I can’t say definitively,? he noted. ‘I haven’t seen the scores yet, but it certainly helped a great deal.?
Besides his crew, Spencer was also grateful to all the public officials who helped make this happen. ‘We had some good support from the township and the fire board,? he said.