[Adopted 9-22-2009 by Ord. No. 821]
The Borough Manager of Baldwin Borough or such official's
designee is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized
to carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
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 Baldwin (hereinafter the "municipality")
where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under
all policies exceeds $5,000, unless the insurance agent is furnished
by the Municipal Treasurer, Tax Collector, or Borough Manager with
a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992 and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and
(d) of Act 98 of 1992 and the provisions of this article.
Where pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992, the Municipal Treasurer, Tax Collector or Borough Manager
issues a certificate indicating that there are not delinquent taxes,
assessments, 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 restructure, the following
procedure must be followed:
A. The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the designated officer of the municipality in the aggregate of $1,000
for each $20,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that amount of
a claim, this section to be applied such that if the claim is $20,000
or less, the amount transferred to the municipality shall be $1,000;
or
B. If, at the time of a proof of loss agreed to between the named insured
and the insuring agent, the named insured has submitted a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the
building or other structure, the insuring agent shall transfer to
the municipality from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
C. The transfer or proceeds shall be on a 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 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.
E. Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the municipality 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 municipality. Such costs shall include, without limitation,
any engineering, legal or administrative cost incurred by the municipality
in connection with such removal, repair or security 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 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 be received by the
municipality and notify the named insured that the procedures under
the subsection shall be followed; and
(3) When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
has 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;
and
(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 proceeds
are returned.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability
of the municipality to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing
in the 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 Borough Council of Baldwin 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 charges 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 operating
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. Original jurisdiction regarding any violations of this
article shall be with the District Magistrate.