New Haven Fire Department Improves Community Insurance Ratings New Haven and Adams Township residents, commercial and industrial facilities could receive lower insurance premiums due to a reduced fire protection rating. The majority of insurance companies use the ISO (Insurance Service Office) as a guideline to determine property insurance rates. The classifications are from 1 thru 10 with the lower the number, the better the rating. Currently, New Haven has a class 4 rating. The new rating effective will August 1, 2010 be a class 3 for all properties. There are many factors involved in this rating system, to mention a few; 30% is derived from public water supply and/or the ability to deliver minimum of water from tankers or dry hydrants in rural areas. The City of New Haven has invested a significant amount of improvements in the water system in the last several years, not only for fire protection, but also domestic use. For example, the number of hydrants in the last several years has increased from around 300 to over 600 and all with increased flow capacity. Other factors include increased maintenance of our water system by programs by the New Haven Utility Department and annual flow tests done by New Haven Engineering Department. Another component is our 911 communications center. Significant infrastructure improvements at the New Haven Police Department have helped reduce our rating as well. This equates to faster service to our citizens for all types of emergencies, not just fires. With the help of several grants, all public safety is using 800 MHz. radio systems and are able to communicate with all emergency services without any increase from property taxes. The majority of the rating is dependant on the fire department, its organization, response, and staffing and fire loss records. Almost every facet is evaluated, personnel response, certified training, osha compliance, apparatus maintenance, hose and ladder testing, building inspection program, public fire education, distribution of stations and much more. Concerning issues like minimum staffing on initial responses dictated that a minimum of eight full time personnel be on duty per shift, but that was not financially practical to the taxpayers. Under the direction of our fire/ems Governing Body and over two years of intensive training, all full time ems personnel were cross trained as firefighters and firefighters were cross trained as EMT’s which almost doubled our credit for that category. At the same time, our EMS service upgraded to full Paramedic service, again without any increase in property taxes. There are over 1700 communities in Indiana with established ISO ratings. There are only one (1) class 2 communities, forty-one (41), class 3 communities and sixty-five (65) class 4 communities. The remaining 1600 plus communities are class 5 or higher which puts our community fire protection rating in the top 2% of Indiana communities. The ratings for residential properties use the same rates for class 3 thru class 7, so few residential properties will be affected except those outside New Haven city limits in unincorporated Adams Township. Those residents previously have a class 9 if they were further than 1000 feet from a fire hydrant. There is potentially significant savings for commercial and industrial facilities. We encourage all property owners to contact your carriers after August 1, 2010 to see if you qualify for reduced premiums. We also think that a reduced fire insurance rating can enhance economic development for our community.