How does fire protection class affect rural Georgia insurance rates?

Fire protection class has a significant effect on rural Georgia insurance rates, and it is one of the biggest reasons country properties sometimes cost more to insure than homes in town. The class measures how well your area is set up to fight a fire, and the harder it is to put out a fire at your property, the higher your premium tends to be.

Fire protection class is scored on a scale from 1 to 10. A low number means strong fire protection, with a nearby staffed fire department and good water supply such as hydrants. A high number, often 9 or 10, means limited protection, which is common for rural land far from a fire station and without hydrants.

Two factors drive your class the most:

• Distance to the nearest responding fire department, often measured in road miles.
• Availability of water, such as fire hydrants within a set distance, versus relying on tanker trucks.

Rural Georgia properties frequently land in a higher class because the nearest department is volunteer-staffed and several miles away, and there are no hydrants. That higher class raises the cost to insure the dwelling, barns, and contents, since a fire is more likely to cause a total loss before it can be controlled.

Here is an example. Two similar farmhouses are each insured for $300,000. One sits two miles from a staffed station with hydrants and rates in a low protection class. The other sits eight miles from a volunteer department with no hydrants and rates in class 9. The second home can easily pay several hundred dollars more per year for the same dwelling coverage, purely because of fire protection class.

You may be able to improve your situation with measures like a properly sized water tank or documenting a closer responding station. To see how your protection class is affecting your premium and what can be done about it, request a free coverage review at our coverage review page.