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Aggravated assault — unlawful intentional inflicting of serious bodily injury on another person or the unlawful threat or attempt to inflict bodily injury or death by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon with or without the actual inflicting of any injury.
Aggregate crimes against persons — a weighted average of homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Aggregate crimes against property — a weighted average of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.
Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act — an act passed in 1972 to mitigate the hazard of surface faulting to structures for human occupancy. This state law was a direct result of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which was associated with extensive surface fault ruptures that damaged numerous homes, commercial buildings, and other structures. Surface rupture is the most easily avoided seismic hazard. See also “Earthquake fault zones.”
Alternative Dwelling Classification — a PPC™ report results field available only in the four states (Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Washington) that recognize dwelling classification and only to risks within split-class fire protection areas. The Alternate Dwelling Classification contains any of the dwelling classification options not selected for the risk location.
For example, in a fire protection area where the dwelling classification options are 5/8/9/10 (depending on the distance to fire station and water supply), if LOCATION determines that the dwelling classification for the specific risk is 10, the Alternative Dwelling Classification field will contain 5/8/9. If the system determines that the dwelling classification is 5/8, the Alternative Dwelling Classification will be 9/10.
Alternative PPC — a PPC™ report results field containing all of the PPC options not selected for the risk location — available only to risks within split-class fire protection areas.
For example, in a fire protection area where the PPC options are 5/5X/10 (depending on the distance to fire station and water supply), if LOCATION determines that the PPC for the specific risk is 10, the Alternative PPC field will contain 5/5X. If the system determines that the PPC is 5X, the Alternative PPC will be 5/10. And if the system returns a PPC of 5/5X, the Alternative PPC will be 10.
Arson — any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn a dwelling, house, public building, motor vehicle, aircraft, or personal property — with or without intent to defraud.
Automobile-Property Loss Underwriting System (A-PLUS™ ) — auto and property databases containing up to five years of loss-history data, summarized in an easy-to-read format.
The automobile database contains information on previous claims filed by the potential insured and previous claims filed by other individuals about the insured or the vehicle(s) to be insured. It includes information on bodily injury, comprehensive, personal injury protection, collision, property damage, and liability.
The property database contains previous claims (about the insured) filed by other individuals or businesses. The reports provide information on all types of loss, including fire damage, flood damage, earthquake damage, burglary, credit-card theft, and workers compensation.
Auto symbol — an ISO-defined rating assigned for each vehicle series. The auto symbol is based on such characteristics as make, model, body style, wheelbase, loss experience, driver classifications, vehicle use, and storage. A vehicle with a higher rating symbol will have a higher premium than a vehicle with a lower symbol, if all other rating variables are the same.
Auto Territory — a region of the country that is assessed and rated for risk based on various types of auto-related data obtained on the area. Auto Territories are classified separately for personal and commercial purposes.
Auto Territory Report — a report that provides the ISO Personal/Commercial Auto Territory Code for the risk entered.
Auto theft — illegal taking or attempted taking of a motor vehicle with no intention of returning it.
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Base Flood Elevation (BFE) — the elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Zones AE, AH, A1-A30, AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/A1-A30, AR/AH, AR/AO, V1-V30, and VE. The value indicates the water surface elevation (in feet) resulting from a flood that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
BCEGS™ See "Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule."
Branded title — a motor vehicle ownership document issued by any of the 50 states (or the District of Columbia) that indicates that the vehicle was junked or salvaged; was rebuilt or reconstructed; was damaged by a flood; was disclosed as damaged; was bought back by its manufacturer; contained an odometer reading exceeding mechanical limits; contained an odometer that did not reflect actual mileage; or contained any other symbol or word signifying a similar brand.
Specifically excluded from the definition are titles originally issued without a brand but later stamped with a brand; salvage titles issued due to theft; branded titles issued in error and later corrected; titles issued by Canadian authorities.
Building Code Information Report — a report that reflects the building codes in effect in a particular area and how well the community enforces its building codes. See also "BCEGS."
Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS™ ) — a manual containing the criteria ISO uses to assess the building codes in effect in a particular community, as well as how a community enforces its codes.
Burglary — illegal entering of any property with the intent to commit a felony or larceny.
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California Brush Fire Report — a report that indicates whether or not a risk is located within a California brushfire zone.
California DOI Earthquake Zone Report — a report that identifies the California Department of Insurance (DOI) Earthquake Zone and Subzone for the risk address.
CAP Index® Score — a weighted average of homicide, rape, and robbery scores for a specific location. The score is based on a ranking system used to gauge the location's potential risk of crime against the national average.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — an insurer created by the Florida legislature to serve the needs of Florida homeowners who cannot find coverage in the open, private insurance market.
Coastal barrier — unique land forms that provide protection for diverse aquatic habitats and serve as the mainland's first line of defense against the impacts of severe coastal storms and erosion. Located at the interface of land and sea, the dominant physical factors responsible for shaping coastal land forms are tidal range, wave energy, and sediment supply from rivers and older, preexisting coastal sand bodies. Relative changes in local sea level also profoundly affect coastal barrier diversity.
Coastal Barrier Resources Act — legislation, enacted in 1982, that halted federal spending for low-cost flood insurance guaranteed by the National Flood Insurance Program on designated units of the Coastal Barrier Resources System, including areas on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts, as well as the Great Lakes.
Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) — a collection of specific undeveloped units of land and associated aquatic environments that serve as barriers protecting the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts, as well as the Great Lakes. The CBRS currently includes 585 system units, which comprise nearly 1.3 million acres of land and associated aquatic habitat. There are also 271 "otherwise protected areas," a category of coastal barriers already held for conservation purposes that include an additional 1.8 million acres of land and associated aquatic habitat.
Credit Report — a report that provides an instant and accurate credit history and/or optional credit score for underwriting determinations. Each report provides demographic information, special messages about specific credit-file conditions, a model profile, and a credit summary. The system provides reports based on six scoring models for residential property risks and five for automobile risks.
Credit score — a statistical method of assessing your creditworthiness. Your credit-card history, amount of outstanding debt, the type of credit you use, negative information such as bankruptcies or late payments, collection accounts and judgments, too little credit history, and too many credit lines with the maximum amount borrowed are all included in credit-scoring models to determine your credit score.
Crime Report — a report that provides the overall CAP Index™ score for the location entered, including the individual scores for the following crimes: arson, auto theft, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, homicide, rape, larceny, aggregate crimes against persons, and aggregate crimes against property. The report provides current, past, and forecasted scores for all classifications.
Curb weight — a classification category of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration used to rate passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs. The curb weight is determined by the weight of a vehicle with standard equipment, including the maximum capacity of fuel, oil, coolant, and air conditioning.
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Default company — a feature in the ISO Passport® ordering system that enables you to choose the company that you use most often as the default selection. This company name will appear automatically each time you order a report.
Default state — a feature in the ISO Passport® ordering system that enables you to choose the state in which you are located or the state for which you request the most reports as the default selection. This state will appear automatically each time you order a report.
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Earth Movement - A peril created by the movement of earth, including landslides, mudflows, earth sinking, rising, or shifting, and earthquakes.
Earthquake fault zones — regulatory zones around active faults. The zones are defined by turning points connected by straight lines. Most of the turning points are identified by roads and other ground features. Earthquake fault zones are plotted on topographic maps with a scale of 1 inch equaling 2,000 feet. The zones vary in width but average about one-quarter mile wide.
Exposure information — information regarding building limit of insurance, personal property limit of insurance, payroll, and sales. The exposure information required is dependent on the Type of Risk and Lessor/Occupant combination selected and is specific to each location address entered. Exposure data should be entered in the form of actual dollars.
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Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) — the unique nine-digit number issued to each business by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
FEMA — Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FireLine™ Report — a report that provides information on the three critical wildfire risk factors (fuel, slope, and road access), as well as the corresponding Wildfire Hazard Score and Wildfire Hazard Assessment for the risk, to help you accurately determine its wildfire exposure. For California, the report also includes the Special Hazard Interface Area (SHIA) field, which identifies the likelihood that a risk outside, but immediately adjacent to, a high-fuel area will ignite because of its proximity to high heat and wind-borne burning embers.
FireRing™ — an ISO model that assesses the fuel hazard in an area surrounding a specific property. The FireRing model considers the fuels in three rings around the risk at distances of 250 feet, 1,000 feet, and one-quarter mile. For each of those three rings, the system calculates a fuel score based on the percentage of the area of the ring covered by each type of fuel. The system weights the three scores so that the inner ring gets the greatest weight and the outer ring gets the least.
FloodAssist™ Report — a report that will help you determine a property's flood zone and other necessary flood data and satisfy Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements. FloodAssist Reports are available with or without a guarantee of accuracy.
Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) — a flood map published by FEMA for a specific community. The map indicates areas within the community that are subject to severe flooding. Such maps are the basis for requiring a community to join the National Flood Insurance Program. If a community does not join the program, it may lose federal disaster relief in the event of flooding. Each community map has an identification number that property owners must use when applying for flood insurance in that community.
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) — an insurance and floodplain-management map issued by FEMA that identifies areas of 1 percent annual chance of flood in a community. In some areas, the map also shows Base Flood Elevations and 0.2 percent annual chance floodplain boundaries and, occasionally, regulatory floodway boundaries.
Future Effective PPC™ Report — a report that provides the future Public Protection Classification (PPC) for addresses that will be experiencing a PPC change within the next three months. Future Effective Dwelling PPC is also provided, where applicable. You can order the report with a detailed PPC Report.
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Geocoding — a process that assigns a latitude/longitude coordinate to an address. Once a latitude/longitude coordinate is assigned, the address can be displayed on a map or used in a spatial search.
Geographic information system (GIS) — a system of computer software, hardware, data, and personnel that manipulates, analyzes, and presents information tied to a spatial location.
Gross weight — the maximum allowable weight of a fully loaded vehicle, including liquids, passengers, cargo, and the tongue weight of any towed vehicle.
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Homicide — causing the death of another person without legal justification or excuse.
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ISO® — a leading source of information about risk. ISO supplies data, analysis, and decision-support services for professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government, and human resources. ISO products help customers measure, manage, and reduce risk.
ISO Passport® — the electronic delivery system that gives you instant access to underwriting tools from ISO and other information providers, all through a single interface.
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Larceny — illegal taking of property, other than an automobile, by stealth and without force and with no intention of returning that property.
Latitude/Longitude Report — a report that provides the latitude and longitude for the risk address entered.
Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) — a document issued by FEMA to remove a property/structure from a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Although FEMA uses the most accurate flood hazard information available, limitations of scale or topographic definition of the source maps used to prepare the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) may cause small areas lying at or above the floodplain to be included inadvertently within the SFHA. Also, placement of fill may raise small areas within the SFHA to an elevation at or above the floodplain. Approximately 1 percent of all addresses in FloodAssist" fall into this category. For such situations, the property owner or lessee may apply for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR). The LOMA has no appeal period and is effective on the date sent.
Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) — a document issued by FEMA to remove a property/structure from the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The LOMR may change flood insurance risk zones, floodplain and/or floodway boundary delineations, planimetric features, and/or Base Flood Elevations (BFE). See the LOMR effective chart at http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/st_lomr.shtm to determine when a LOMR becomes effective. See also "Letter of Map Amendment."
Liquefaction — a phenomenon in which earthquake shaking or other rapid loading reduces the strength and stiffness of a soil. Liquefaction occurs in saturated soils, that is, soils in which the space between individual particles is completely filled with water. This water exerts a pressure on the soil particles, influencing how tightly the particles themselves are pressed together. Before an earthquake, the water pressure is relatively low. However, earthquake shaking can cause the water pressure to increase to the point where the soil particles can readily move with respect to each other.
LOCATION® — ISO's risk-assessment tool that provides property and hazard information representing every address in the United States.
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Match basis — describes the criterion used to obtain the report results provided.
Modified Location Address — an address after processing by an address-scrubbing and standardization tool. A successfully scrubbed location address will be have a five- or nine- digit ZIP Code and will result in successful geocoding of the location.
Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale — a scale of seismic intensity that measures or rates the effects of an earthquake at different sites. The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale is commonly used in the United States by seismologists seeking information on the severity of earthquake effects.
The intensity scale differs from the Richter Magnitude Scale in that the effects of any one earthquake vary greatly from place to place, so there may be many intensity values measured from one earthquake. Each earthquake, on the other hand, should have just one magnitude, although the several methods of estimating it will yield slightly different values.
Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) — a report that provides driving-record data and information on traffic violations or accidents of both new applicants and your current policyholders.
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National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) — a program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that provides flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. A number of private insurers are under contract to the NFIP to administer the program. Those insurers issue the program's Standard Flood Insurance Policy, and they are reinsured by the federal government for 100 percent of any flood losses. They collect the premium, adjust the losses, and receive a percentage of the premium for commissions, taxes, and allocated loss adjustment expenses.
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OFAC — Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
OFAC Report — a report that identifies individuals with whom your company should not do business because of their involvement in terrorist or illegal activities. ISO offers OFAC Report services as an optional enhancement to A-PLUS™ Loss History Reports. Each time you order an A-PLUS report, the system automatically checks the insureds name against the master list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A-PLUS will automatically notify a designated OFAC representative at your company if the system finds a match.
Order name — identifies the name of the report ordered.
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Premium Tax Service Report (currently available in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, and South Carolina) — a report that provides the appropriate premium-tax code for the risk entered. This service also identifies customers in multiple-tax zones.
Public Protection Classification (PPC™ ) — an ISO rating system that classifies a community's ability to suppress fires.
Public Protection Classification (PPC™ ) Report — a report that provides the Public Protection Classification and corresponding fire protection area for the risk entered, including supplemental information such as subscription protection areas, dwelling class, and state-specific information (where applicable), which helps to define coverage further.
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Rape — unlawful sexual intercourse by force or without legal or actual consent. Also includes attempts to commit rape and assaults of a sexual nature.
Responding Fire Station Name — the name of the primary responding fire station recognized by ISO. The fire station must have trained firefighters, alarm and dispatch methods, fire equipment that meets the minimum requirements of ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, and must possess the ability to protect their fire equipment from weather conditions.
Retry processing — See "Stand-in processing."
Return source — a field on a report that shows whether the match is on an address level (“ADDRESS”), ZIP+4 level (ZIP4), or a ZIP Code level (“ZIP”).
Risk address — the address used to match against the database.
Robbery — unlawful theft of money or property by force or threats from another person in a face-to-face encounter.
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Sinkhole – a topographic depression formed when underlying limestone bedrock is dissolved by groundwater.
Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) — an area of land that would be inundated by a flood having a 1 percent chance of occurring annually (referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood). The standard constitutes a reasonable compromise balancing the need for building restrictions to minimize potential loss of life and property and the economic benefits derived from floodplain development. Development may take place within the SFHA, provided it complies with local floodplain-management ordinances, which must meet minimum federal requirements. The law requires flood insurance for all insurable structures within the SFHA to protect federally funded investments and assistance used for acquisition and/or construction purposes within communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. SFHAs are divided into flood zones according to boundaries established by a Flood Insurance Rate Map.
Special Hazard Interface Area — in a FireLine™ assessment, areas outside fuel areas but exposed to wind-borne embers and high heat from nearby fuels.
Split classification — a rating sometimes used in PPC™ Reports. If the database does not contain information on the location of the nearest fire hydrant (or other approved source of water), the PPC Report will display a split classification (for example 5/9). The first class applies to properties within 1,000 feet of a hydrant or other approved source of water. The second class applies to properties beyond 1,000 feet. The system can return split classifications for both the dwelling and commercial PPC codes.
Stand-in processing — an option available for certain ISO reports ensuring that, during an outage, ISO Passport® will automatically retry your request until the data source becomes available or until the end of your specified time-out period, whichever comes first; also called "retry processing".
Statistical Placement — a technique used to assign the Public Protection Classification (PPC™ ) and related information for addresses not found in any of the commercial roadbases used by LOCATION®. The LOCATION database is a combination of the United States Postal Service (USPS) address database, parcel databases, and the two most comprehensive street databases in the market today. The LOCATION address files include all standardized street addresses in the USPS database. A small percentage of those addresses may not be in either street database. When a street is not in either of those street databases, ISO uses a highly credible best-approximation technique (statistical placement) and gives the insured the benefit of the doubt in PPC assignment.
If multiple PPC codes might apply to the approximated street placement and there is a 30 percent or greater probability that the best of those codes might apply, then ISO will assign the best PPC code to the street. For example, if Class 6, 9, or 10 might apply, and there is a 30 percent or greater probability that Class 6 actually applies, LOCATION assigns Class 6 to the street. LOCATION determines the probability by assessing the PPC codes assigned to nearby streets that are in the street databases.
Symbol — See "Auto symbol."
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Territory — within a state, a geographic area used for rating insurance policies. ISO uses loss experience for the territories to calculate factors that insurers use to adjust the base premiums. The purpose is to match premiums to losses in an equitable manner.
For its lines of insurance, ISO has introduced or is introducing territories defined by ZIP Code. Until the process is complete, some territory definitions still rely on geographic descriptions or county and community boundaries.
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Undisclosed Driver Report — a report that helps you identify potential vehicle operators not listed on the application for insurance.
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Vehicle class — a method of categorizing automobiles, for example, economy, compact, midsize, or large utility.
Vehicle identification number (VIN) — a unique number assigned to each automobile used for identification. The 17-digit number is on all cars, usually found on a metal strip on the dashboard or on a sticker on the side panel of the driver door.
Vehicle Registration Report — a report that provides complete, accurate registration data, including information about previously junked, salvaged, or flooded cars.
Vehicle Series Rating (VSR) — an ISO program designed to match premiums to losses in an equitable manner. For each vehicle series (defined by such characteristics as make, model, body style, and wheelbase), ISO assigns a code called a rating symbol. ISO provides corresponding symbol factors that insurers may use in determining premiums for individual policies. A vehicle with a higher rating symbol will have a higher premium than a vehicle with a lower symbol, if all other rating variables are the same.
Initially, ISO assigns preliminary symbols based solely on the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of a new vehicle. Then, by examining normalized loss experience, ISO makes adjustments both upwards and downwards to arrive at the rating symbols. Those adjustments reflect differences not covered by other rating variables, such as driver classifications, use of vehicle, and place of garaging. VSR captures differences caused by factors such as attractiveness to theft and damage. It is unlikely that a $30,000 minivan would generate the same amount of theft losses as a $30,000 sports car or that the vehicle damage sustained in an accident would be the same for a $40,000 luxury car with a fiberglass-based body as for a $40,000 sport utility vehicle. The VSR program adjusts the premiums and balances the effects in a revenue-neutral way.
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Water Supply Type — the applicable water source (for example, hydrant, suction point, or hauled water) for a particular risk. Water supply type applies only to risks within split-class fire protection areas.
Windpool zone — coastal areas eligible for participation in state-sponsored insurance pools. Windpool and beach plan associations grant credits to insurers writing risks within specified zones.
Wind Report — a report that identifies whether the risk entered is within the windpool eligibility zone and also provides the corresponding ISO personal/commercial property territory code, the ISO Group II Zone, the distance to the nearest ocean and/or Great Lake, and the distance to the nearest body of water.