[Amended 12-7-2010]
A.
Any transaction involving the purchase, sale or transfer of any Town-owned
real or personal property, whether vehicles, buildings, land, equipment,
etc., must be forwarded to the Finance Director in order to determine
the requirements of insurance.
B.
When a contract contains an insurance requirement, that portion of
the contract must be submitted to the Finance Director and the Town
Attorney for review and approval of coverages.
C.
When a department engages a vendor and requires insurance coverage,
the limits should meet those minimally set forth in the Town's coverages.
No direct transactions are to be conducted by department personnel
with the insurance broker or the insurance company. All transactions
shall be directed through the Finance Director or his or her designee.
D.
If there are questions, they should be directed to the Finance Director.
The Town Manager has assigned the Finance Director as the person
responsible for coordination of the Town's insurance. The Finance
Director shall be responsible for ensuring that the Town Attorney
is apprised of legal issues pertaining to litigation representation
and control, pursuant to applicable Town ordinances. The Town Manager
reserves the right to modify and amend the procedure and policy outlined,
as necessitated by coverage changes. It is intended to promulgate
annual updates to this policy.
A.
Purpose: to establish the criteria for the payment of losses under
the Town self-insurance program, effective June 30, 1993.
B.
Applicability. This program applies to property, physical damage,
automobile and general liability claims for damages within the Town
of Barnstable. The claims for damages under the Town's property policy
will be made from the Municipal Building Insurance Fund in accordance
with Town ordinance and MGL c. 40, § 13. The claims for
damages under the Town's automobile and general liability policies
will be made in accordance with the procedure specified below.
C.
Rationale. The Town cannot continue to rely upon the insurance industry
to stabilize the increase in insurance premiums. The coverage obtained
will vary from areas previously covered. Policy deductibles are introduced
where previously the Town enjoyed no deductible or a small deductible.
It is therefore adopted as policy by the Town of Barnstable, to instruct
departments subject to these policies in the following manner.
D.
Procedure. In general, the following procedures apply. Specific exceptions
may be found under the description of each major insurance policy.
(1)
To apply for reimbursement under this program, the department manager
or claimant must submit the claim for alleged damages to the Finance
Director as soon as possible from its known occurrence, in writing.
Failure to make such notification may result in its denial.
(2)
Initial report of a potential claim should be made by telephone and
followed up by a written report to the Finance Director.
(3)
The claim notice, if the standard ACORD form is not used, should
provide information relative to: nature of claim; date of accident/loss,
time of same; location (specific) of claim; name, address, phone number
of person making claim; full description of accident or loss; estimate
of dollar loss on claim; names, addresses, phone numbers of witnesses;
relationship to Town of Barnstable (insured party).
(4)
Estimates of damages alleged should be developed by the department
manager/claimant, and submitted to the Finance Director as soon as
possible.
(5)
Deductibles for policies will vary; consult with the Finance Director
for current deductibles in the following policies:
(6)
It is the policy of the Town that losses for various coverages apply
as follows:
(a)
Automobile: Losses up to $499 payable by department incurring
loss; balance through the Auto Insurance Account, if funds are available.
(b)
Property: Losses up to $999 payable by department; losses from
$1,000 to policy deductible processed through the Municipal Building
Insurance Fund.
(c)
Building and contents: Losses up to $999 payable by department;
losses from $1,000 to policy deductible processed through the Municipal
Building Insurance Fund.
(d)
Fine arts: Losses up to $250 payable by department; losses above
deductible processed through the Municipal Building Insurance Fund.
(e)
Portable radios: Losses up to $250 payable by department.
(f)
Contractor equipment: Losses up to $999 payable by department;
losses over $1,000 payable through the Municipal Building Insurance
Fund.
(g)
General liability: Losses up to $999 payable from either department
liability reserve fund (i.e., sewer maintenance), the General Liability
Loss Fund (GLLF), or both.
(h)
Boiler and machinery: up to $999 payable by department; balance
through boiler and machinery policy.
(7)
In regard to notices of loss for property: in excess of $1,000 up
to deductible, general liability under $1,000; the Town may elect
to use the services of an insurance appraisal firm. These will be
utilized on a per-occurrence basis. Since a fee is charged for these
services, the Town will be selective in using same.
(8)
Upon approval of claim, the department manager/claimant will be notified
and payment processed.
(9)
The use of a release for claims made paid for amounts under appropriate
deductible will establish relinquishment of Town to make any additional
payments after receiving any additional claims for damages. This will
establish a payment without prejudice provision and be enforced by
the Town Attorney.
A.
The claimant reports the accident to his/her supervisor.
B.
The supervisor
completes the first report of the accident, supervisor's report of
injury, and medical authorization form, within 48 hours of notification.
The supervisor submits the completed form to the workers' compensation
agent in the Personnel Department. If the claimant is to be out five
days or more, a wage statement form must be completed and submitted
to the workers' compensation agent in the Personnel Department.
C.
Action by agent.
(1)
The agent remits the original report of injury to the Industrial
Accident Board, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02109.
(2)
Copies of the report of the accident and original supervisor's report
of injury and medical authorization are forwarded to the Town's claims
administrator.
(3)
The agent maintains a file copy of three forms for each claim by
claimant name, department, date of injury.
D.
All bills received from the claimant are forwarded by the agent to
the claims administrator; copy of bill is maintained in the claimant
file.
E.
Reports of accident are reviewed quarterly with records to determine
if reserves are warranted.
F.
Bills or claims made by a claimant on a previous claim over one year
from date of initial claim should be forwarded from the claimant to
the supervisor to the agent. The agent will forward to the claims
administrator.
G.
Claimants shall seek treatment at: physician of Town's choice for
industrial accidents. They should identify themselves as Town of Barnstable
employees. A physician will conduct evaluations on behalf of the Town.
H.
In order to stabilize reserves in the Worker's Compensation Trust
Fund, the Town will debit the departmental salary account for that
portion of salary due the employee for accidents qualifying for lost
time payments to the extent that the departmental salary account can
sustain such debits and not interfere unreasonably with accomplishment
of the department's goals and objectives.
A.
The operator must complete blue ACORD Form No. 2 and Registry of
Motor Vehicles accident report for any incident involving any vehicle,
whether registered or not. All reports are to be given to the department
supervisor for delivery to the insurance coordinator within 48 hours
of the incident.
C.
Estimates of damage to be obtained and submitted to the Finance Director;
Director to forward estimate to the broker.
D.
Damages to Town-owned vehicles which are recoverable under the Town
insurance plan must be submitted to the broker of record.
E.
Damages coming under the Town self-insurance program are to be submitted
to the Finance Director.
F.
Damages to Town-owned vehicles which are recoverable, but not paid
by the other party, must be turned over to the Town Attorney for collection.
G.
Operators and/or supervisors shall not contact the broker directly,
except as previously arranged through the Finance Director. All notice
of damage shall route through the Finance Director. Failure to do
so may result in denial of the claim.
A.
The initial report is to be completed on green ACORD Form No. 1 and
submitted to the Finance Director.
C.
Estimates of repair in detail shall be submitted to the Finance Director
for forwarding to the broker of record.
D.
All correspondence relating to the claim shall be forwarded to the
Finance Director.
