Fire Department Insurance in Elkins, WV
Departments in Randolph, Tucker and Pocahontas counties run on volunteers, long drives between stations and trucks that have to last. The insurance has to cover the apparatus, the station and the people riding.
Ryan Parrack volunteers with the Elkins Fire Department, so he knows what a department runs into, from an apparatus on a mountain road at night to a member hurt at a live burn. We write fire departments and volunteer companies through VFIS, a program built for emergency services.
Quote Your Department
Call the Elkins office or send the form. We usually call back the same or next business day.
Insuring a mountain department
Almost every department in our counties is volunteer or largely volunteer, which puts the people doing the most dangerous work outside ordinary workers compensation. Accident and sickness coverage for volunteer members is the core of the program. Apparatus should carry an agreed value set high enough to replace it, because a replacement engine costs a multiple of what an older truck is carried at, and portable equipment needs scheduling separately from the station building.
From the Elkins office, here since 1976. Call and we will go over how this applies to your trucks, your station and your roster.
Departments We Write Through VFIS
Volunteer Fire Departments
All-volunteer companies, the bulk of the departments in our counties
Paid Fire Departments
Career crews on salary, staffed around the clock
Combination Departments
A paid core with volunteers filling out the roster
Fire Districts
Fire protection organized and funded as its own district
EMS/Rescue Squads
Ambulance, rescue and extrication squads
Fire Companies
Independent companies and firemen’s associations
What the VFIS Program Covers
Station Property Coverage
EssentialPays to rebuild the station and replace what is inside it at replacement cost. Earthquake and flood are included in every zone, not only the low-risk ones. Property your crews commandeer at a scene is covered, and when a member’s own property is damaged on a call, the program reimburses their deductible.
Portable Equipment
EssentialAir packs, thermal cameras, extrication tools, drones, hose and the gear members carry are replaced new at guaranteed replacement cost, not at a depreciated value. Boats and the trailers that haul equipment are included, and a deductible waiver is available.
Apparatus & Vehicle Coverage
EssentialEngines, pumpers, aerials, tankers, ambulances and rescue trucks are insured at an agreed value set before a loss, so nobody argues afterward about what an older tanker was worth. Auto liability comes with it, plus fellow member liability, garagekeepers coverage, and extensions written around how your trucks are actually used.
General Liability
EssentialCovers members and staff while they act for the department, on a call or off it. EMS crews get professional healthcare liability, Good Samaritan acts are covered, fellow member liability is included, and liquor liability reaches the fundraisers that keep a volunteer company running.
Management Liability
EssentialFor the board and officers who run the department: employment practices, directors and officers coverage for wrongful-act claims, excess coverage when an officer sits on an outside board, and cyber liability that includes help managing a privacy breach.
Volunteer Accident Coverage
EssentialA volunteer is not an employee, so ordinary workers comp leaves them out. This pays medical bills, disability income and a death benefit when a member is hurt on a call or at training.
Excess Liability
A layer above the auto, general and management liability policies, up to $10,000,000, for the one claim bigger than everything underneath it.
Have These Ready When You Call
The underwriter asks the same things every time. Bring these to the first call:
Calls That Turn Into Claims
Five things a mountain department runs into sooner or later, and the part of the program that pays for each:
Tanker Off the Road on a Winter Run
A tanker headed to a mutual aid call slides off a snow-covered grade and clips a parked car on the way into the ditch. The agreed value on the apparatus pays for the truck, and auto liability answers for the car.
Member Hurt at a Live Burn
A volunteer turns a knee on a training burn and misses six weeks at his regular job. Volunteer accident coverage pays the medical bills and sends a disability check while he heals.
Damage the Owner Blames on the Crew
Crews pull ceiling and break out windows in a room the fire never reached, and the owner says the department went too far. The department’s liability coverage handles the claim and the defense.
Break-In at an Empty Station
Stations out in the county sit empty most of the day. Someone pries a bay door and leaves with radios, a thermal camera and the hydraulic tools. Portable equipment coverage puts new ones back on the truck.
Fall on the Way Into a Fundraiser
A neighbor slips on the ice walking into the station for a spaghetti dinner. General liability pays the medical bills and defends the department if it turns into a lawsuit.
Bring Us Your Apparatus List
We write fire departments through VFIS. Call the Elkins office and we will go over your trucks, your station and your members with you.
Looking for a different location?
Jon Parrack Insurance — a separate, independently owned Parrack family agency — has its own version of this page.
Jon Parrack Insurance
Serving Point Pleasant, Mason County (WV) & Southeast Ohio
Point Pleasant, WV
See this page for Point Pleasant