In the fiercely competitive homeown...

In the fiercely competitive homeowner line, insurance companies these days are focusing more upon identifying the hazards that a risk is expos to before they lay out underwriting dollars to inspect the site and determine coverage.

This approach can be exceedingly important in evaluating fire peril, especially for newly built, higher-end housing in suburban and rural are-as where disentanglement is burgeoning. In a 2001 reflection the Insurance Services Office, Jersey City, NJ reported that areas graded at the lower fall of the curtain of its fire protection scale--generally, more suburban and rural locales--have seen dwelling values rise faster than those areas with better fire