Fire department ratings are bottoming out; fire insurance premiums are going
through the roof.

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) – a private for-profit company
headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey – has downgraded the services
provided by the Hoodland Fire Department and the result is impacting
commercial and home fire insurance rates.

Brigette Romeo, owner of The Still Creek Inn in Rhododendron, had her fire
insurance premium come due and saw her premium skyrocket by $1,000 per
year.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Romeo told The Mountain Times. “I said (to her
Nationwide insurance agent Eric Weber) ‘What are you talking about?’ I was in
shock.”

ISO is in the business of rating fire departments and fire districts nationwide,
and report their findings to insurance companies. A recent rating of HFD was
not received well by Chief Mic Eby.

“They’re a self-serving organization and have a definite conflict of interest,”
Eby said. “We don’t recognize them due to their inconsistencies. To put it
simply, they lie. We’d tar and feather folks like them.”

Eby cited the upgrades the local department has made since the previous
rating from ISO, making the downgrade baffling.

“We added two new engines, more hydrants, increased training hours, I just
don’t get it,” he said. “They’re causing a lot of problems.”

ISO was founded in 1971 in a merger of smaller underwriting service
organizations, according to Wikipedia. The company provides data,
underwriting, risk management and legal services to its clients with special
focus on community fire protection efforts and building code effectiveness
evaluation to property-casualty insurers.

The Oregon Fire Chiefs Association took on the ISO as well, forming a Fire
Insurance Rating Task force Dec. 7, 2012: “To evaluate and identify options
for a credible science/performance based fire insurance rating system that
assesses the ability of fire agencies to reduce the risk to both insurance
agencies and property owners in Oregon.”

OFCA set goals for the task force and returned with the following findings:
A survey was distributed to all OFCA member agencies. The opinions of those
surveyed show that the majority feel the ISO program is not very accurate.

A best practices document identified what the ISO is actually looking for, the
impact of actions on the grading, and simple ways to be more prepared.

Evaluated the ability of ISO to deliver a credible grading system of fire
agencies.

Filed formal comments with the Oregon Insurance Division Feb. 21, 2013
asking the division to provide appropriate modifications to the filing or reject it
outright.

Concluded the ISO does not consider Oregon claims experience with the result
that substantial and inappropriate burdens are placed on the residents of this
state and take arbitrary control over Oregon firefighting operations.

The OFCA continued, noting that basic notions of fairness are created by
altering definitions and standards so that they are unclear and unachievable in
order to drive insurance premiums higher for ISO’s insurance company
shareholders to the detriment of Oregon consumers.

Washington state has created the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau
which operates as a non-profit rating organization that is not connected to any
insurers. The ISO does not operate in Washington. The OFCA has met with
WSRB and serious talks have ensued regarding what would work in Oregon.
Barring OFCA success in this area, local business owners and homeowners
should expect significant rate increases when their next fire insurance
premium comes due.

Attempts to contact ISO failed, as none of its websites would load and phone
calls were not returned.