The Managing Director or such official’s designee is hereby
appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out
all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
Where pursuant to §
106-23 the Managing Director issues a certificate indicating that there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against real property or the Managing Director issues a certificate and bill for such charges and the bill is paid directly by the insuring agent from the insurance proceeds, the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss agreed to 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 other structure, the following procedures must be followed:
A. The insuring
agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the designated
officer of the Municipality in the aggregate of $2,000 for each $15,000,
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 Municipality shall be $2,000.
B. 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 Municipality from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate. If there is more than one insuring agent, the transfer
of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies, associations
or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
C. 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 Municipality in excess of the estimate
to the named insured, if the Municipality has not commenced to remove,
repair or secure the building or other structure.
D. Upon receipt
of the proceeds under this section, the Municipality shall do the
following:
(1) The
Managing Director 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 Municipality.
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.
(2) It
is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the proceeds
to provide the Municipality 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 Municipality
and notify the named insured that the procedures under this subsection
shall be followed.
(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 Municipality and the required proof of such completion received
by the designated officer, and if the Municipality has not incurred
any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall be returned
to the named insured. If the Municipality 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 Municipality
shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4) To
the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the Municipality
pursuant to this section, and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to the Municipality. 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.
E. Nothing
in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the Municipality
to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to prohibit the Municipality 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 Council for the Township of Bristol may adopt procedures
and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992, as amended, and this
Article and may fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities
or services provided pursuant to Act 98 of 1992, as amended, and this
article; including, but not limited to, issuance of certificates and
bills, performance of inspections, and opening separate fund accounts.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
who violates this article shall be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000
per violation.