[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Bath as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire company — See Ch. 60.
[Adopted 4-3-1995 by Ord.
No. 487 (Ch. 87, Art. I, of the 2005 Code of Ordinances)]
The Treasurer of the Borough of Bath or such official's
designee is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized
to carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
A "fire loss" or claim for fire damages is defined as any loss
occurring after the effective date of this article and covered under
a policy of fire insurance, including all endorsements or riders to
the policy.
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 Borough of Bath (hereinafter the "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 the Insurance Company Law of 1921,[1] as amended (the "Insurance Law"), and § 361-4 of this article, and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and (d) of the Insurance Law and the provisions of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b).
A.
The Borough Treasurer shall, upon the written request of the named
insured specifying the tax description of the property, 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 loss report
of the claim, furnish the insuring agent either of the following within
14 working days of the request:
(1)
A certificate 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
Borough Treasurer's certificate, 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
(2)
A certificate and bill showing the amount of delinquent taxes, assessments,
penalties and use 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 Borough Treasurer's certificate,
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 clause, the Borough shall provide 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.
B.
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.
Upon receipt of a certificate pursuant to § 361-4A(1) of this article, the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with policy terms, except 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 insurance policies covering the building or other structure, the procedures set forth in § 361-7 below shall be followed.
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to § 361-4A(2) of this article, the insuring agent shall return the bill to the Borough Treasurer and transfer to the Borough Treasurer an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges costs as shown on the bill, or the full amount of the insurance proceeds, whichever is the lesser amount. The Borough shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill. Further, terms of § 361-7 shall be followed, if applicable. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the Borough to recover any deficiency.
A.
Where pursuant to Section 508(b)i(1)(i) of the Insurance Law and § 361-4A(1) of this article, the Borough Treasurer issues a certificate indicating that there are 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 agreed upon by the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds 60% of aggregate limits of liability on all fire insurance policies covering the building or other structure, the following procedures must be followed:
(1)
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the Borough Treasurer in 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 Borough shall be $2,000; or
(2)
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 Subsection A(1) above, the insuring agent shall transfer to the Borough from the insurance proceeds the amount specified in the estimate.
(3)
The transfer of proceeds to the Borough 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.
(4)
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 Borough Treasurer shall return
the amount of the funds transferred to the Borough in excess of the
estimate to the named insured, if the Borough has not commenced to
remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
(5)
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, 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 of removing,
repairing or securing the building or structure which are incurred
by the Borough. 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;
(b)
It is the obligation of the insuring agent, when transferring
the proceeds, to provide the Borough 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 Borough Treasurer shall contact
the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by
the Borough and notify the named insured that the procedures under
this subsection shall be followed;
(c)
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations
and orders of the Borough and the required proof of such completion
received by the Borough Treasurer, 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, the costs
shall be paid from the fund and if excess funds remain, the Borough
shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured;
(d)
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the
Borough pursuant to this section and such proceeds are 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.
B.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of
the Borough to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this
subsection 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
of the damaged property has been negotiated.
The Borough Council may by resolution adopt procedures and regulations
to implement Section 508 of the Insurance Law[1] and this article and may by resolution fix reasonable
fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant
to the Insurance Law and this article, including but not limited to
issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and
opening separate fund accounts.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
[Amended 11-5-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-678]
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
who or which violates any provision of this article shall, upon a
judicial determination thereof, be subject to a judgment for each
such violation of not more than $1,000, reasonable attorney's
fees, plus costs of suit. All such sums shall be paid to the Borough
of Bath. In addition, court costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred
by the Borough in enforcement proceedings shall be assessed against
violator and awarded to the Borough.
