Property owners may see a break in insurance premiums because Augusta Fire Department has achieved an Insurance Services Office rating of 1-1X, the highest possible, Fire Chief Chris James announced Tuesday. “Augusta becomes one of only 18 communities across Georgia to achieve this top rating,” James said. “This rating is a testament to the hard work our staff has put into raising our rating and making our city a safer place to work and live.”
The rating scale goes from 10 to 1, with a 1 being the highest. The rating measures a department’s readiness and response capabilities and is used by insurance companies to determine the price of property insurance. The rating is a first for the 130-year-old department and Augusta’s rating is up from the 3-3X the consolidated government was first assigned in 2011, James said. Prior to that combined rating, the pre-consolidation city was a 2, and the unincorporated county was a 5, he said.