[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Upper
Moreland Township as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 153.
[Adopted as Title 4, Ch. 7, of the 1977 Code[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article was adopted 12-7-1992 by
Ord. No. 1281 and amended 9-13-1993 by Ord. No. 1298 and 5-3-1999
by Ord. No. 1393.
This article is adopted pursuant to the terms of Act No. 1992-98,
as amended by Act No. 1994-93 of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
(the "Act").[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Fire Insurance Claims Act, 40 P.S. §
638 et seq.
The Director of Finance of the Township of Upper Moreland (the
"Director") is hereby designated as the officer of the Township authorized
to carry out the duties of this article under the terms of the Act.
Whenever any building or structure in the Township shall suffer fire damage or other loss as a result of a loss compensable under the terms of a policy of insurance against fire, and the loss agreed to between the named insured under such policy and the insurer equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability for all policies of fire insurance covering such building or structure, the insurer shall deposit the amounts required under § 184-4 with the Director to be applied as provided in § 184-5.
A.
The insurer shall deposit with the Director, for the purpose of ensuring the repair, removal or securing of any fire-damaged building or structure, the following sums in the event of a fire loss under § 184-3 above:
(1)
Two thousand dollars for each $15,000, or fraction thereof, of the
amount of the loss agreed between the named insured and the insurer;
or
(2)
The amount of a contractor's signed estimate, obtained by the
named insured, of the cost of repair, removal or securing of the fire-damaged
building or structure.
B.
In the event that there is more than one insurer, the amount to be
deposited shall be prorated among all such insurers.
C.
The Director shall notify the named insured in writing of the receipt
of the funds deposited and the procedures to be followed in order
to secure release of the funds.
The amount deposited under § 184-4 shall be deposited into a separate fund to be used solely for the purpose of reimbursing the Township for the actual costs incurred by the Township of repairing, removing or securing any fire-damaged building or structure. When the named insured shall complete the repair, removal or securing of such fire-damaged building or structure in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 153, Fire Prevention, Article II, Fire Prevention Code, of the Township Code of Upper Moreland, the Township shall return the funds to the named insured. In the event that the named insured shall fail to repair, remove or secure such fire-damaged building or structure in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 153, Fire Prevention, Article II, Fire Prevention Code, of the Township Code of Upper Moreland, the Township shall use the funds on deposit to carry out such repair, removal or securing of such fire-damaged building or structure. Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the liability of the owner of property in repairing, removing or securing any fire-damaged building or structure to the funds deposited or to the proceeds of any policy of fire insurance.
The Township's Treasurer is hereby authorized to give notice
orally upon request, and to confirm such notice in writing, of the
existence of any delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and/or user
charges against the property involved in the fire loss or to certify
that no such taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges are delinquent.
The Treasurer is further authorized to submit to any insurance company
for payment, as provided in the Act, a certificate and bill showing
the total costs incurred by the Township for the removal, repair or
securing of any building or structure involved in the fire loss on
the property and any delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and/or
user charges against the property involved in the fire loss. As used
herein, "delinquent" shall mean that a lien for such tax, assessment
or user charge could be filed by the Township without the further
passage of time.