[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Columbia as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-8-1995 by Ord. No. 663]
The Secretary/Treasurer of the Borough of Columbia
or such official's designee (hereinafter the "municipal officer")
is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to
carry out all responsibilities and duties of the municipality stated
herein.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any loss occurring after the effective date of this article
and covered under a policy of fire insurance, including any endorsement
or riders to said policy of fire insurance.
A.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter
the "insurer") 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 Columbia, County of Lancaster, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania (hereinafter the "municipality"), where the amount
recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies
exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer and the named insured comply with
the provisions of Section 508(b)[1] and the provisions of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
B.
The municipal officer shall, upon the written request
of the named insured specifying the tax description of the property,
name and address of the insurer and the date agreed upon by the insurer
and the named insured as the date of a receipt of a loss report of
the claim, furnish the insurer either of the following within 14 working
days of the request:
(1)
A certificate or, at the discretion of the municipality,
a verbal notification which shall be confirmed in writing by the insurer
to the effect that, as of the date specified in the request, there
are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against
the property and that, as of the date of the municipal officer's certificate
or verbal notification, the municipality has not certified any amount
as total costs incurred by the municipality for the removal, repair
or securing of a building or other structure on the property; or
(2)
A certificate and bill showing the amount of the municipal
liens, delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and use charges against
the property (including administration costs and attorney's fees)
as of the date specified in the request that have not been paid as
of the date of the certificate and also showing, as of the date of
the municipal officer's certificate, the amount of the total cost,
if any, certified to the municipal officer that have been incurred
by the municipality for the removal, repair or securing of a building
or other structure on the property. For the purposes of this clause,
the municipality shall provide to the municipal officer the total
amount, if any, of such costs, if available, or the amount of costs
known to the municipality at the time of the municipal officer's certificate.
A tax, assessment, penalty or user charge (including administration
costs and attorney's fees) becomes delinquent at the time and on the
date a lien could otherwise have been filed against the property by
the municipality under applicable law.
C.
Upon the receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection B(1) of this section, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms.
D.
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection B(2) of this section, the insurer shall return the bill to the municipal officer and transfer to the municipal officer an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges and costs as shown on the bill or the full amount of the insurance proceeds, whichever is the lesser amount. The municipality shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
E.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit
the ability of the municipality to recover any deficiency in taxes,
assessments, penalties, charges and costs (including administration
costs and attorney's fees) as detailed herein following payment from
the insurer and crediting of such payment to the bill by the municipality.
A.
No insurer doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay a claim of a named insured for a fire damage to a structure located within the municipality where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer is furnished by the municipal officer with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) and § 134-3B of this article and unless there is compliance with Sections 508(c) and (d).
B.
After full compliance with the requirements of Section 508(b)(1)(i) and § 134-3B through F of this article, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss as agreed upon by the named insured and the insurer equals 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building structure, the following procedures shall be followed:
(1)
The insurer shall transfer from the insurance proceeds
to the municipal officer the aggregate of $2,000 for each $15,000
of a claim and for each fraction of that amount of a claim, provided
that this section is to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000
or less, the amount transferred to the municipality shall be $2,000;
and that, if at the time of a loss report the named insured has submitted
a contract or 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 insurer
shall transfer to the municipality from the insurance proceeds the
amount based upon the estimate.
C.
After the transfer of proceeds to the municipal officer pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the named insured may submit a contract or signed estimate of the cost of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure, and the municipal 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 proceeds of insurance under Subsection B of this section, the municipality shall do the following:
(1)
The municipal 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 costs incurred
by the municipality in connection with such removal, repair or securing
of the building or any proceedings related thereto; and
(2)
It is the obligation of the insurer 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 municipal officer shall contact the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by the municipality and notify the named insured that the procedures established under this Subsection D shall be followed; and
(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 municipal officer, and if the municipality
has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the funds
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 Subsection D of this section and retained by it, such interest shall belong to the municipality. To the extent that the 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 Subsections A through D of this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the municipality to recover any deficiency remaining after application of the proceeds escrowed by the municipality against costs incurred by the municipality in removing, repairing or securing the building or structure. Furthermore, nothing in Subsections A through D of this section 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 the municipality may,
by resolution, adopt additional procedures and regulations to implement
Section 508 and this article and may, by resolution, fix reasonable
fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant
to Section 508 in this article, including, but not limited to, issuance
of certificates and bills.
Any owner of property, any named insured or
any insurer who violates this article shall be subject to a penalty
of up to $1,000 per violation.
A certified copy of this article shall be filed
with the Department of Community and Economic Development of Pennsylvania
on or before its effective date.
