[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Upper Burrell 3-2-2011 by Ord. No. 2-2011. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire company — See Ch. 17.
The Township Manager/Secretary or such official's designee
is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to
carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
Where any fire loss to a property is in excess of $7,500 of
all policy coverages, the Township Manager/Secretary, upon written
request of property owner or named insured meeting the requirements
of Section 508(b)(1) of the Act, 40 P.S. § 638 et seq.,
shall issue, within 14 working days of the request, to the insuring
agent either of the following:
A.
A certificate, or at the discretion of the Township, a verbal notification
which will be confirmed in writing, that as of a specified date, there
are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against
the property and that no costs have been incurred by the Township
for repairs or demolition or securing a building or structure; or
B.
A certificate and bill showing the amount of delinquent taxes, assessments,
penalties and user charges and other costs. When delinquent taxes,
assessments, penalties, charges and/or costs are owed, the insurance
company must then, prior to paying the claim to the insured, transfer
to the Township the amount necessary to pay the amounts as shown on
the bill from the insurance proceeds.
No insurance company, association, or exchange (hereinafter
the "insuring agent") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure
located within the Township of Upper Burrell (hereinafter the "Township")
where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under
all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the named insured or insuring
agent is furnished by the Township Manager/Secretary with a municipal
certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992, as amended,[1] and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and
(d) of Act 98 of 1992[2] and the provisions of this chapter.
A.
Where pursuant to Section 508(b)(1) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] the Township Manager/Secretary issues a certificate indicating
that there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user
charges against real property, the insuring agent shall pay the claim
of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss is agreed
upon by the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds
60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering
the building restructure, the following procedures must be followed:
(1)
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the designated officer of the Township in the aggregate of $2,000
for each $15,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that amount of
a claim, this section to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000
or less, the amount transferred to the Township shall be $2,000; or
(2)
If at the time of a proof of loss agreed to between the named insured
and the insuring agent, the named insured has submitted a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the
building or other structure, the insuring agent shall transfer to
the Township from the insurance proceeds that amount specified in
the estimate.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b)(1).
B.
The transfer of proceeds shall be on pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
C.
After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing, or securing the
building or other structure, and the designated officer shall return
the amount of the funds transferred to the Township in excess of the
estimate to the named insured, if the Township has not commenced to
remove, repair, or secure the building or other structure.
D.
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the Township shall do
the following:
(1)
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in the separate fund
to be used solely as security against the total costs of removing,
repairing, or securing the building or structure which are incurred
by the Township. Such costs shall include, without limitation, any
engineering, legal, or administrative costs incurred by the Township
in connection with such removal, repair, or securing of the building
or any proceedings related thereto;
(2)
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the
proceeds to provide the Township with the name and address of the
named insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the name
and address of the named insured, the designated officer shall contact
the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by
the Township and notify the named insured that the procedures under
this subsection shall be followed;
(3)
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations
and orders of the Township and the required proof of such completion
received by the designated officer, and if the Township has not incurred
any costs for repairs, removal, or securing, the fund shall be returned
to the named insured. If the Township has incurred costs for repairs,
removal, securing of the building or other structure, the costs shall
be paid from the fund and if excess funds remain, the Township shall
transfer the remaining funds to the named insured; and
(4)
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the Township
pursuant to this section, and the proceeds are not returned to the
named insured, such interest shall belong to the Township. To the
extent that proceeds are returned to the named insured, interest earned
on such proceeds shall be distributed to the named insured at the
time that the proceeds are returned.
E.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of
the Township to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to prohibit the Township and the named
insured from entering into an agreement that permits the transfer
of funds to the named insured if some other reasonable disposition
of the damaged property has been negotiated.
The Township Board of Supervisors may, by resolution, adopt
procedures and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992 and this chapter
and may, by resolution, fix reasonable fees to be charged for Township
activities or services provided pursuant to Act 98 of 1992 and this
chapter, including but not limited to issuance of certificates and
bills, performance of inspection, and opening separate fund accounts.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial
District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of
not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment
thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.
