(a) The Director of Finance or his or her designee (hereinafter referred to as the "Municipal Officer") is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties of the City, as provided herein.
(b) For purposes of this section, "fire loss" or "claim for fire damage" means any loss occurring after the effective date of this section and covered under a policy of fire insurance, including any endorsements or riders to the policy.
(c) No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter referred to as 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 City, where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds seven thousand, five hundred dollars ($7,500), unless the insurer is furnished by the Municipal Officer with a Municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) of the Act of May 17, 1921 (P.L. 682, No. 284), and unless there is compliance with Sections 508(c) and (d) of said Act and the provisions of this section.
(d) After full compliance with the requirements of Section 508(b)(1) (i) of the Act, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured, provided, however, that if the loss agreed upon by the named insured and the insurer equals or exceeds sixty percent 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 two thousand dollars ($2,000) for each fifteen thousand dollars ($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 fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or less, the amount transferred to the City shall be two thousand dollars ($2,000), and provided, further, that if, at the time of a loss report, the named insured has submitted a contractor's signed estimate of the cost 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 City from the insurance proceeds the amount based upon the estimate.
(2) The transfer of proceeds shall be on pro rata basis by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure. Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the City shall be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
(e) After the transfer provided in subsection (d) hereof, 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 City in excess of the estimate to the named insured if the City has not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
(f) Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the City shall do all of 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 City. Such costs shall include, without limitation, any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the City in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building or any proceedings relating thereto.
(2) It shall be the obligation of the insurer, when transferring the proceeds, to provide the City 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 City and notify the named insured that the procedures under this subsection shall be followed.
(3) When the repair, removal or securing of the building or other structure has been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations and orders of the City and the required proof of such completion received by the Municipal Officer, and if the City has not incurred any costs for such repair, removal or securing, the fund shall be returned to the named insured. If the City has incurred costs for the repair, removal or securing of the building or other structure, the costs shall be paid from the fund and, if excess funds remain, the City shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4) To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the City pursuant to this section, and retained by it, such interest shall belong to the City. 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.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the City to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the City 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.
(h) The City may, by resolution, adopt procedures and regulations to implement Section 508 and this section and may, by resolution, fix reasonable fees to be charged for City activities or services provided pursuant to Section 508 and this section, including, but not limited to, the issuance of certificates and bills, the performance of inspections and opening of separate fund accounts.
(Ord. 4710. Passed 2-8-95.)