Insurance Reduction
To reduce homeowner and business insurance premiums, the District is in the process of inviting the insurance industry to conduct a field audit of the community's capability to response to a house fire or business on fire.
The insurance industry, represented by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), has a Public Protection Classification (PPC) system that after a field audit assigns a number from 1 to 10 to a community--a 1 being the best possible protection and 10 being the worst possible protection. Communities with a Class 10 pay the highest possible insurance premiums while communities with a Class 1 pay the least possible insurance premiums.
The Tightwad Fire Protection District is a Class 10 because until recently the District did not have a pumper truck capable of pumping enough water for a structure fire.
The Fire Chief is working with the National Fire Services Office (NFSO) to evaluate and assist the District to reduce it's ISO classification, first from a 10 to a 9 and then a 9 all the way down to hopefully a 6!
Click here to read the initial assessment report from NFSO.
It is estimated that the community will collectively save between $170K-$255K--money that will stay in the community instead of going to the insurance companies. Individual home and business owners would save an estimted $250-$500 per year. The Leesville R-IX School District should also see signficant reduction in premiums to protect the School District's buildings.
Unfortunately, residents beyond 5 miles form the fire station in Tightwad will continue to be class 10 until a pumper is purchased for the fire station in Coal (see the map below).
![Map of Southeast Henry County, Missouri with areas shaded indicating 5 driving miles from fire stations in Coal and Tightwad, Missouri](https://streamline.imgix.net/6a49a4d0-b141-4b1d-b4df-f5dd04fa972d/81b5bbed-ee23-4db4-b311-6ac4d300b3eb/CoalFiveMilesOut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&w=2000&h=2000&fit=max&or=0&s=f18eacfdea5e705a7999d220935278ef)