[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Wilson as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-9-1992 by Ord. No. 637, approved 11-9-1992]
The Borough Treasurer or such official's designee
is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to
carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
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 Wilson (hereinafter the
"municipality") where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to
the structure under all policies exceeds $5,000, unless the named
insured or insuring agent is furnished by the Municipal Treasurer
with a municipal certificate pursuant to § 508(b) of Act
98 of 1992[1] and unless there is compliance with § 508(c)
and (d) of Act 98 of 1992[2] and the provisions of this article.
A.Â
Where, pursuant to § 508(b)(1)(i) of Act
98 of 1992,[1] the Municipal Treasurer 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 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)Â
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance
proceeds to the designated officer of the municipality in the aggregate
of $1,000 for each $20,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that
amount of a claim, this section to be applied such that if the claim
is $20,000 or less, the amount transferred to the municipality shall
be $1,000; or
(2)Â
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 municipality from the insurance proceeds the amount
specified in the estimate.
(3)Â
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro-rata basis
by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building
or other structure.
(4)Â
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 municipality
in excess of the estimate to the named insured, if the municipality
has not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other
structure.
(5)Â
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the municipality
shall do the following:
(a)Â
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 municipality. Such costs shall include,
without limitation, any engineering, legal or administrative costs
incurred by the municipality in connection with such removal, repair
or securing of the building or any proceedings related thereto.
(b)Â
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when
transferring the proceeds to provide the municipality 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 municipality and notify the named insured
that the procedures under this subsection shall be followed.
(c)Â
When repairs, removal or securing of the building
or other structure have been completed in accordance with all applicable
regulations and orders of the municipality and the required proof
of such completion received by the designated officer and if the municipality
has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund
shall be returned to the named insured. If the municipality 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 municipality shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(d)Â
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds
held by the municipality pursuant to this section and not returned
to the named insured, such interest shall belong to the municipality.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
B.Â
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit
the ability of the municipality to recover any deficiency. Furthermore,
nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the municipality
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 Act 98 of 1992 and this article
and may by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal
activities or services provided pursuant to Act 98 of 1992 and this
article, including but not limited to issuance of certificates and
bills, performance of inspections and opening separate fund accounts.
Any owner of property, any named insured or
any insuring agent who violates this article shall be subject to a
penalty of up to $1,000 per violation.