2009 Iowa Code
Title 13 - Commerce
Subtitle 1 - Insurance and Related Regulation
CHAPTER 515 - INSURANCE OTHER THAN LIFE
515.139 - DEMOLITION RESERVE ON FIRE AND CASUALTY CLAIMS ON PROPERTY.

        515.139  DEMOLITION RESERVE ON FIRE AND CASUALTY
      CLAIMS ON PROPERTY.
         1.  An insurer shall reserve ten thousand dollars or ten percent,
      whichever amount is greater, of the payment for damages to the
      property excluding personal property on which the insurer has issued
      a fire and casualty insurance policy as demolition cost reserve if
      the following are applicable:
         a.  The property is located within the corporate limits of a
      city.
         b.  The damage to the property renders it uninhabitable or
      unfit for the purpose for which it was intended, without repair.
         c.  Proof of loss has been submitted by the policyholder for a
      sum in excess of seventy-five percent of the face value of the policy
      covering the building or other insured structure.
         2.  An insurer which has received a proof of loss in excess of
      seventy-five percent of the face value of the policy covering a
      building or other insured structure, shall notify the city council of
      the city within which the property is located.  The notice shall be
      made by certified mail within five working days after receipt of the
      proof of loss.
         3.  The city shall release all interest in the demolition cost
      reserve within one hundred eighty days after receiving notice of the
      existence of the demolition cost reserve unless the city has
      instituted legal proceedings for the demolition of the building or
      other insured structure, and has notified the insurer in writing of
      the institution of the legal proceedings.  Failure of the city to
      notify the insurer of the legal proceedings terminates the city's
      claim to any proceeds from the reserve.
         4.  A reserve for demolition costs is no longer required if either
      of the following is true:
         a.  The insurer has received notice from both the insured and
      the city council that the insured has completed repairs to the
      property or has completed demolition of the property in compliance
      with all applicable statutes and local ordinances.
         b.  The city has failed to notify the insurer as provided
      under subsection 3.
         5.  If the city has instituted legal proceedings, undertaken
      emergency action, or is required to demolish the damaged property at
      city expense, the city shall present to the insurer costs incurred,
      since the date of the fire or other occurrence, including but not
      limited to legal costs, engineering costs, and demolition costs
      related directly to the enforcement of any local ordinance, and the
      insurer shall compensate the city for the incurred costs up to the
      amount in the demolition cost reserve.  Any amount left from the
      demolition cost reserve after the cost of demolition of the property
      is paid to the city shall be paid to the insured if the insured is
      entitled to the remaining proceeds under the policy.
         6.  The insurer is not liable for any amount in excess of the
      limits of liability set out by the policy.
         7.  Insurers complying with this section or attempting in good
      faith to comply with this section shall be immune from civil and
      criminal liability.  

         Section History: Recent Form

         88 Acts, ch 1176, §1
         C89, § 515.150
         89 Acts, ch 16, §1; 91 Acts, ch 59, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1163, § 100;
      2007 Acts, ch 152, § 50
         CS2007, § 515.139 

         Footnotes

         Former § 515.139 transferred to § 515.111; 2007 Acts, ch 152, § 45