DRAYTON – Mapleton has revised a bylaw that allows Fire Marque to collect fees from resident’s personal insurance companies in the event of a fire.
“The money is collected from a clause in nearly all home insurance policies allowing for firefighting fees and never collected from the homeowner’s outside the insurance policy,” Fire Chief Rick Richardson said in a report to council.
Fire Marque was started by two people in Collingwood who know the insurance business and the fire service.
“They know what insurance company’s got what coverage to pay for fire services,” Richardson said at the Jan. 28 council meeting. “So on our behalf they collect that money and they keep 30% of what they collect from the insurance.”
However, Richardson said they don’t use them on every call.
While the township has had an agreement with Fire Marque since 2014, it has come to light that there may be some holes in the bylaw if the insurance company pays the fees that should be given to the fire department directly to the homeowner.
“After gathering some legal opinions Fire Marque has a new bylaw that we can put in place that does have a clause around collecting these funds if it is ever needed,” Richardson said in his report. The new bylaw is replacing the previous agreement.
Richardson specified the Fire Marque would only help with fires, whereas the fire department manages claims to insurance companies after a vehicle accident.
The new bylaw passed unanimously.
