[Adopted 2-14-1995 by Ord. No. 95-3]
The Treasurer/Comptroller or his designee is hereby appointed
as the designated officer authorized to carry out all responsibilities
and duties established under Section 508 of the Insurance Company
Law of 1921, as amended,[1] and by this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter "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 Millcreek (hereinafter "Township") where the
amount recoverable for the fire loss to the building or other structures
under all policies of insurance exceeds $7,500, unless the named insured
or insurance agent is first furnished with a certificate by the Township
Treasurer/Comptroller or his designee pursuant to Section 508(b) of
the Insurance Company Law of 1921,[1] as amended, and unless there is compliance with Section
508(c) and (d) of said law and with the provisions of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b).
The Treasurer/Comptroller shall, upon receipt of a written request
of the named insured specifying the address and tax index number of
the property, the name and address of the insuring agent and the date
agreed upon by the insuring agent and the named insured as the date
of the receipt of a report of the claim, furnish to the insuring agent
within 14 working days after receipt of the request:
A.
A certificate
or, at such officer's discretion, 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 Treasurer's certificate or verbal notification,
no municipality has certified any amount as total costs incurred by
the municipality for the removal, repair or securing of a building
or other structure on the property; or
B.
A certificate
and 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 certificate
and also showing, as of the date of the Treasurer's certificate, the
amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Treasurer that
have been incurred by a municipality for the removal, repair or securing
of a building or other structure on the property, after receipt by
the Treasurer of a written certification by such municipality as to
the total amount, if any, of such costs. 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 municipality
under applicable law, 53 P.S. §§ 7102, 7103, and 7106,
providing that taxes and municipal claims constitute liens against
a subject premises from the date of their assessment or imposition.
Where, pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of the Insurance Company
Law,[1] the Treasurer/Comptroller issues a certificate indicating
that there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user
charges against the real property, the insuring agent shall pay the
claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss is
agreed by the named insured and the insuring agent(s) equals or exceeds
60% of the aggregate limits of liability of all fire policies covering
the building or other structures, the following procedures must be
followed:
A.
The insuring agent(s) shall transfer from the insurance proceeds
to the Township's Treasurer in the aggregate $2,000 for each $15,000
and fraction of that amount of a claim as security for the proper
securing, repair, demolition and/or removal of damaged structures
upon the premises; or
B.
If, at the time of a loss report, the named insured has submitted a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure in an amount less than the amount calculated under the transfer formula set forth in Subsection A, the insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds the amount specified in the estimate.
C.
The transfer of proceeds under this section shall be on a pro rata
basis by all insuring agents insuring the building or other structures,
and policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the Township shall
be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
D.
The named insured may submit a contractor's signed estimate of the
costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure
after the transfer of policy proceeds to the Township, and the Treasurer/Comptroller
or his designee shall return the amount of the fund in excess of the
estimate to the named insured, if the Township has not by then commenced
to remove, repair or secure the building or other damaged structure.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b)(1)(i).
Upon receipt of proceeds by Millcreek Township as authorized under § 55-5 of this article, the following procedure shall apply:
A.
The Treasurer/Comptroller or his designee shall place the proceeds
in a separate fund to be used solely as security against the total
cost of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structures
which are incurred by the Township. Such costs shall include, without
limitation, all engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred
by the Township in connection with such removal, repair or securing
of the building or of other structures;
B.
When transferring the funds as required in Section 508(c) of the
Insurance Company Law[1] and by this article, an insuring agent shall provide the
Township with the name and address of the named insured, whereupon
the Township 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 section shall be followed;
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(c).
C.
The fund shall be returned to the named insured when repairs, removal
or security of the building or other structure have been completed
and the required proof received by the Township Treasurer if Millcreek
Township has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing;
D.
If Millcreek Township has incurred costs for repairs, removal or
securing of the building or other structures, all such costs shall
be paid from the fund and, if excess funds remain, Millcreek Township
shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured;
E.
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the Township
pursuant to this article and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to and be retained by 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 by the Township;
F.
Nothing in this section or article shall be construed to limit the
ability of the Township to recover any deficiency; and
G.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit Millcreek
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 of Millcreek may by resolution adopt modified procedures
and regulations to implement this article and may, by resolution,
fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities or services
provided pursuant to Section 508 of the Insurance Company Law of 1921[1] and this article, including but not limited to these for
issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections, legal
and administrative services and the opening of separate fund accounts.
With the exception of allowance by Section 508 of the Insurance Company
Law and this article of verbal notification by the Treasurer, the
November 10, 1992 resolution of the Board of Supervisors implementing
procedures shall be and remain in full effect.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-6]
Any owner of property, any named insured and/or any insuring
agent who violates this article shall be subject to a penalty of $600
per violation.
In accordance with the requirements of Section 508(i) of the
Insurance Company Law, as amended,[1] the Township Secretary shall, upon adoption of this article,
file with the Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs an exact
copy of this article, together with the name, position and telephone
number of the Township Treasurer assigned responsibility for compliance
with this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(i).
