The Township Manager of the Township of Colebrookdale, or his/her designee, is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Colebrookdale Township as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-5-1995 by Ord. No. 5-95]
No insurance company, association or exchange (herein referred to as 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 Township of Colebrookdale (hereinafter the "Township") where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insuring agent is furnished with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508 (b) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and (d) of Act 98 of 1992[2] and the provisions of this article.
In the event that pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] the Township Manager 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 directly to 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:
A.
If the insured property owner has not obtained an estimate of the cost to remove, repair, or secure the building or other structure, which has been agreed upon between the named insured and the insuring agent, the insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the designated officer of the Township of Colebrookdale in the aggregate of $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; or
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
If the insured property owner has submitted to the insuring agent a contractor's signed estimate of the cost to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure, and if the amount of the estimate is agreed upon by the insuring agent, the insuring agent shall transfer funds to the Township from the insurance proceeds as provided in § 306-3A, above, based upon the amount of the contractor's estimate.
C.
The transfer of proceeds shall be on pro rata basis by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
D.
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 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.
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the Township shall do the following:
(1)
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in a 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, and 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; and
(2)
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 designated officer 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; and
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(3)
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 designated officer, and if the Township has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall be returned to the named insured. If the Township 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 Township shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured; and
(4)
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.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b)(1)(i).
The Township of Colebrookdale 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.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent who violates this article shall, upon being found liable therefor, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Township in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Township shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Township may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County.
The provisions of this article shall be severable and, if any of the provisions hereof shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this article shall remain in effect.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting with any of the provisions of this article are hereby repealed insofar as the same affects this article.
This article shall become effective 30 days after its enactment.