[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012, as amended by Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
A Fire Loss Claims Officer shall be appointed annually or as
otherwise needed by Borough Council to carry out all responsibilities
and duties stated herein.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
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 Red Hill Borough where the amount recoverable for the
fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless
the insuring agent is furnished by the Borough Treasurer with a municipal
certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) of Act 98 [40 P.S. § 638(b)]
and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and (d) of Act
98 [40 P.S. § 638(c) and (d)] and the provisions of this
Part. Any request to the Borough Treasurer for a municipal certificate
shall be in writing.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
1.
Upon the written request of the named insured specifying the tax
description of the property, the name and address of the insuring
agent and the date of receipt by the insuring agent of a loss report
of the claim, the Fire Loss Claims Officer or other duly authorized
representative of the Borough shall furnish, within 14 business days
after the request of the named insured, either:
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
A.
A certificate or, at the discretion of the Borough, a verbal notification
which shall be confirmed in writing by the insuring agent to the effect
that, as of the date specified in the request, there are no delinquent
taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against the property
and that, as of the date of the municipal certificate or verbal notification,
the Borough has not certified any amount as total costs incurred by
the Borough for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other
structure on the property; or
B.
A certificate and itemized bill showing the amount of delinquent
taxes, assessments, penalties and user charges against the property
as of the date specified in the request that have not been paid as
of the date of the municipal certificate and also showing, as of such
date, the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Borough
Treasurer that have been incurred by the Borough for the removal,
repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property.
For the purposes of this provision, the Borough shall certify to the
Borough Treasurer the total amount, if any, of such costs, if available,
or the amount of costs known to the Borough at the time of the Borough
Treasurer's certificate.
2.
For the purpose of this Part, a tax, assessment, penalty or user
charge becomes delinquent at the time and on the date a lien could
otherwise have been filed against the property by the Borough under
applicable law.
3.
If the Borough issues a certificate in accordance with § 10-303, Subsection 1B, above, then the insuring agent shall return the bill to the Borough Treasurer and transfer to the Borough Treasurer an amount from the insurance proceeds sufficient to pay all delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and user charges against the property and all expenses the Borough has incurred for costs of removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property prior to making payment to the named insured, subject to the provisions of § 10-305 hereof.
4.
If the Borough issues a certificate indicating that there are no
delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against the
property, then, upon receipt of the municipal certificate, the insuring
agent shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however,
that if the loss 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 or other structure, compliance
with the following procedures shall be required:
A.
The insuring agent shall transfer to the Borough from the insurance
proceeds in the aggregate $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 Borough shall be $2,000; or
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
B.
If, at the time of the loss report of the claim, as 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 Borough from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
C.
Within 60 days of the transfer of proceeds to the Borough, the named
insured may submit to the Borough a contractor's signed estimate of
the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other
structure; and, provided the Borough has not commenced to remove,
repair or secure the building or other structure, the Borough Treasurer
shall return to the named insured the amount of the funds transferred
to the Borough in excess of the estimate.
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
5.
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the Borough shall
be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
1.
Upon the receipt of fire loss proceeds under § 10-303 above, the Borough shall do the following:
A.
The Borough Treasurer shall place the proceeds in a separate fund
to be used solely as security against the total costs incurred by
the Borough for removing, repairing, or securing the building or structure.
Such costs shall include, without limitation, any engineering, legal
or administrative costs incurred by the Borough in connection with
such removal, repair or securing of the building or any proceedings
related thereto; and
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
B.
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the
proceeds to provide to the Borough the name and address of the named
insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the name and address
of the named insured, the Fire Loss Claims Officer shall contact the
named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by the
Borough and notify the named insured that the procedures set forth
in this section shall be followed; and
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
C.
When the repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed in accordance with all applicable ordinances,
codes, regulations and legal requirements of the Borough and the required
proof of such completion in form and substance satisfactory to the
Borough has been received by the Borough, and if the Borough has not
incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall
be returned to the named insured. If the Borough has incurred costs
for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure,
such costs shall be paid from the fund; and if excess funds remain,
the Borough shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured;
and
[Amended Ord. No. 2022-580, 4/13/2022]
D.
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the Borough
pursuant to this Part, and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to the Borough. 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.
2.
Nothing in this Part shall be construed to limit the ability of the
Borough to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this Part
shall be construed to prohibit the Borough and the named insured from
entering into an agreement that permits the transfer of funds to the
named insured if some other reasonable disposition if the damaged
property, as determined by the parties, has been negotiated.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
An insurance company, association or exchange making payments
of policy proceeds under this Part for delinquent taxes or structural
removal liens or removal expenses insured by the Borough of Red Hill
shall have full benefit of such payment, including all rights of subrogation
and of assignment.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
The Borough Council may, by resolution, adopt procedures and
regulations to implement Act 98, as amended, and this Part and may
by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for activities or
services provided by the Borough pursuant to Act 98 and this Part,
including, but not limited to, issuance of certificates and bills,
performance of inspections and opening separate fund accounts.
[Ord. 2012-491, 5/9/2012]
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
who violates this Part shall be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000
per violation, together with legal costs and reasonable attorneys'
fees of not less than 5% of the amount due, as incurred by the Borough
in enforcement of this Part.
[Added by Ord. 2014-511, 12/10/2014]
A.
This section shall be known as the "Borough of Red Hill Emergency
Services Cost Reimbursement Ordinance."
B.
Recovery of Costs.
(1)
The Borough hereby authorizes the Red Hill Fire Company to recover
the reasonable cost of emergency rescue tools, equipment, and materials;
hazardous material abatement tools, equipment, and materials; and
incurred third-party expenses arising from environmental incidents,
firefighting incidents, safety and rescue incidents, and vehicular
accidents.
(2)
The reasonable costs described herein may be recovered directly
by the said Fire Company or through a third-party billing service
as an authorized agent for the recovery of such costs.
(3)
The Fire Company or third-party billing service shall have authority
to recover the aforementioned costs only from the applicable insurance
company or carrier.
(4)
The reimbursement rates for the aforementioned tools, equipment,
and materials shall be set by the Fire Company from time to time and
shall only be applied to the recovery of costs arising out of incidents
occurring after the setting of the applicable rates. A current schedule
of applicable rates shall be maintained by the Fire Company and on
file with the Borough.
(5)
In addition to the aforementioned costs, the Fire Company or
third-party billing service is authorized to collect reasonable interest
and a reasonable administrative fee and any and all other fees and
costs as may be authorized by the Hazardous Materials and Emergency
Planning and Response Act,[1] or any other applicable statute.
[1]
Editor's Note: For the Hazardous Material Emergency Planning
and Response Act, see 35 P.S. § 6022.101 et seq.
C.
Responsibility of the Borough. The Borough shall not be responsible
for any aspect of the recovery of costs under this section. The Borough
shall not take any steps to assist the Fire Department or any third-party
billing service in recovery of costs under this section.
