[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Scranton: Art.
I, as Ord. No. 171-1992 (Ch. 7, Art. X, of the 1979 Code),
amended in its entirety 2-1-1995 by Ord. No. 10-1995.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 243.
[Adopted as Ord. No. 171-1992 (Ch. 7, Art. X, of
the 1979 Code), amended in its entirety 2-1-1995 by Ord.
No. 10-1995]
The Treasurer of the City of Scranton is hereby appointed as the designated
officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties stated
herein.
A.
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 City of Scranton where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the
structure under all policies exceeds seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7.500.),
unless the named insured or insuring agent is furnished by the Treasurer of
the City of Scranton with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508
(b) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] as amended by Act 93 of 1994, and unless there is compliance with
Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992, as amended, and unless there is compliance
with Section 508(c) and (d) of Act 98 of 1992 as amended and the provisions
of this Article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638 et seq.
B.
Where pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992,
as amended, the Treasurer issues a certificate indicating that there are no
delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and 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 sixty percent (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 Treasurer of the City of Scranton, in the aggregate of two
thousand dollars ($2,000.) for each fifteen thousand dollars ($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 fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.) or less,
the amount transferred to the City of Scranton shall be two thousand dollars
($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 the foregoing transfer formula, the insuring agent shall
transfer to the City of Scranton from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
(3)
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis
by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other
structure.
(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 Treasurer of the City of Scranton shall return
the amount of the funds transferred to the municipality in excess of the estimate
to the named insured, if the City of Scranton has not commenced to remove,
repair or secure the building or other structure.
(5)
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the City
of Scranton shall do the following:
(a)
The Treasurer of the City of Scranton 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 City of Scranton. 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)
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring
the proceeds to provide the City of Scranton 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 City of Scranton
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 City of Scranton and the required proof of such completion
received by the Treasurer of the City of Scranton, and if the City of Scranton
has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall
be returned to the named insured. If the City of Scranton has incurred costs
for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure, the cost
shall be paid from the fund, and if excess funds remain, the City of Scranton
shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(d)
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held
by the City of Scranton pursuant to this section, and not returned to the
named insured, such interest shall belong to the City of Scranton. To the
extent that the 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.
Nothing in this Article shall be construed to limit the ability of the
City of Scranton to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this Article
shall be construed to prohibit the City of Scranton and the named insured
from entering into an agreement that permits the transfer of funds to the
named insured of some other reasonable disposition of the damaged property
has been negotiated.
The governing body may fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal
activities of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening
separate fund accounts.
An owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent who violates
this Article shall be subject to a penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.)
per violation.
