How ArcGIS Affects Your Homeowners Insurance

The Office of State Fire Marshal uses ArcGIS to Optimize Fire Rating Inspections and Community Resource Funding

Through the adoption of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) at the NC Department of Insurance has significantly improved the decision-making process for the state by:

  • training and certifying fire-and-rescue personnel,
  • promoting community risk education, and
  • distributing grant funding to fire-and-rescue departments

Adam Blythe, GIS Data Specialist at OSFM, walks us through the benefits brought by ArcGIS to the insurance industry and the overall safety of North Carolina’s citizens.

Fire ratings play a significant role in determining the insurance premiums for homeowner’s insurance policies.

The more favorable the fire rating of a given area, the lower the insurance premium tends to be.

The implementation of ArcGIS software has reduced the time it takes to conduct a fire rating inspection from days to just 1-2 hours.

Hand-drawn paper maps have been transformed into online, centralized datasets with readily available information on municipal boundaries, fire districts, and hydrant locations.

This upgrade has allowed the Fire and Rescue Commission to halve the time spent between visiting a fire department for inspections, from every 10 years to every 5 years – ensuring up-to-date certifications and supporting fair and consistent insurance rate adjustments across the state.

By utilizing GIS to identify areas of higher risk to fire-related incidents, the OSFM can more efficiently direct resources and facilitate grants for fire and rescue departments providing preventative care initiatives, including:

  • education campaigns,
  • smoke alarm installations, and
  • community outreach programs.

Utilizing GIS has saved countless hours for the NC Department of Insurance by visualizing what were once spreadsheets of information through comprehensive maps, dashboards, or tables and graphs.

As various datasets have been acquired from other divisions and shared between state agencies, introducing a consistent spatial aspect has helped write a clearer story for the Office of State Fire Marshal. By investing in this quickly developing technology, state agencies may expand their GIS staff and provide the necessary training for any professionals interested in spatial technology.