[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of West Manchester 12-20-2007 by Ord. No. 07-12. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The short title of this chapter shall be the "West Manchester
Township Fire Insurance Escrow Ordinance," and the same may be cited
in that manner.
The following words, terms and phrases shall have ascribed to
them the meanings herein set forth, unless the use of such word, term
or phrase in context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Any insurance company, association or exchange.
The person or persons who are insured for the building or
structure where the fire occurred.
West Manchester Township.
The Treasurer of West Manchester Township or his designee.
The Treasurer of the Township, or his designee, is hereby appointed
as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities
and duties stated herein.
When a fire loss occurs on any property within the Township,
the named insured and the insuring agent shall supply all insurance
information to the Treasurer as required by this chapter.
No insuring agent doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire loss or damage to a
structure located in the Township where the amount recoverable for
the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500 unless
the named insured or the insuring agent complies with the provisions
of Act 98 of 1992, as amended,[1] and the provisions of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638 et seq.
The 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:
A.Â
A certificate or, at the discretion of the Township, 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 municipal certificate or
verbal notification, the Township has not certified any amount as
total costs incurred by the Township for the removal, repair, or securing
of a building or other structure on the property; or
B.Â
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 municipal
certificate and also showing, as of the date of the municipal certificate,
the amount of the total costs, if any, certified by the Township that
have been incurred by the Township for the removal, repair, or securing
of a building or other structure on the property.
Where, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the Township
Treasurer issues a certificate indicating that there are no delinquent
taxes, assessment, 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 or structure, the following
procedures must be followed:
A.Â
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the Treasurer of the Township in the aggregate $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 Township shall be $2,000.
B.Â
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 the amount less than the amount calculated as provided in Subsection A above, the insuring agent shall transfer to the Township from the insurance proceeds the amount specified in the estimate.
C.Â
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
D.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 Treasurer shall return the amount
of the funds transferred to the Township in excess of the estimate
to the named insured if the Township has not commenced to remove,
repair or secure the building or other structure.
E.Â
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the Township shall do
the following:
(1)Â
The Treasurer 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 Township.
Such costs shall include, without limitation, any engineering, legal
or administrative costs incurred by the Township in connection with
such removal, repair or securing of the building or any proceedings
related thereto.
(2)Â
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the
proceeds to provide the Township 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 Treasurer 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
subsection shall be followed.
(3)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 Township and the required proof of such completion
received by the Treasurer and if the Township has not incurred any
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 Township shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4)Â
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the Township
pursuant to this section and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to 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.
F.Â
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of
the Township to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this
section shall be construed to prohibit the 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 Board of Supervisors of the Township may by resolution adopt
procedures and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992, as amended,[1] and this chapter, and may by resolution fix reasonable
fees to be charged for Township activities or services provided pursuant
to Act 98 of 1992, as amended, and this chapter, 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.
The Treasurer of the Township shall file an exact copy of this
chapter, as amended, and all further amendments with the Pennsylvania
Department of Community and Economic Development together with the
name and phone number of the Treasurer of the Township.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
violating the provisions of this chapter shall pay a civil penalty
to the Township in an amount not to exceed $600 per violation. If
the penalty imposed by the Township is not voluntarily paid, the Township
shall initiate a civil enforcement proceeding before a District Justice
pursuant to the provisions of Section 1601 of the Second Class Township
Code.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 66601.
