Global data analytics and technology provider, Verisk has introduced LOCATION® Property Protection Score™ (PPS), which provides insurers with a score that reflects the fire protection capabilities at a specific address level.
This score helps insurers accurately rate and underwrite personal lines homeowners risks, Verisk explained.
LOCATION PPS builds on Verisk’s LOCATION® Public Protection Classification® (PPC), the industry standard for community-based fire protection scoring used by more than 250 insurers, the firm stated.
The program assesses the response capabilities of local fire departments in over 36,000 areas and uses a grading system that considers various factors to achieve fire protection
These factors include the effectiveness of emergency communications, the quality of the fire department itself, the availability and reliability of water supply, and the community risk reduction.
Verisk designed this product to create a comprehensive evaluation that helps insurers and communities understand the level of fire protection in a specific location.
LOCATION PPS, similar to LOCATION PPC, utilises the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) criteria but with added enhancements. These include using actual expected drive times, considering local traffic patterns, instead of relying solely on distance.
Additionally, LOCATION PPS incorporates a unique dataset of property-specific characteristics and provides a more precise measurement of distance to water sources. This results in a more accurate and granular assessment of fire risk for individual properties.
“Insurers want stronger predictive performance and informative insights surrounding the properties they insure, and LOCATION PPS delivers,” said Austin Grigsby, associate vice president, personal property solutions at Verisk.
He continued: “As with LOCATION PPC, fire departments and communities can impact LOCATION PPS scoring by updating and maintaining their fire suppression system and criteria – in turn, building more resilient communities.”
In 2022 alone, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reported U.S. local fire departments responded to an estimated 1.5 million fires, causing roughly $18 billion in property damage.
This equals to a house structure fire every 88 seconds in just one year, a statistic that highlights the importance of LOCATION PPS’s enhancements, Verisk claims.
James Roche, senior vice president of property product management at Verisk, added: “LOCATION PPS’s innovative efforts can provide insurance carriers greater granularity in fire protection assessment, which is essential for assessing the relationship between fire suppression and related losses. As an industry, it’s pivotal we account for all external factors that can impact response time and capabilities – because every second matters.”
