[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, 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.
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.
The Borough Council may by resolution adopt procedures and regulations
to implement Section 508 of the Insurance Law 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.
[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.