Quincy ordinance allows fire dept. to bill insurers

QUINCY, Mass. –- Quincy city councilors passed a new ordinance on Monday that allows the fire department to bill insurance companies the cost of emergency response for at-fault accidents.

The Quincy Fire Department is facing a budget emergency.

“We do have five layoffs this year,” said Chief Joseph Barron of the Quincy Fire Department.

Even the layoffs aren’t enough to make up for the cash crunch. To avoid more layoffs, the department is going to now start sending bills for bad driving.

VIEWER VOICES: What do you think about the Quincy ordinance to charge drivers found responsible for accidents?

“I know there are at least a half a dozen chiefs looking to see what happens in Quincy,” said Chief Barron.

The City Council just passed a unique ordinance called the Fire Department Cost Recovery Program. The idea is to have insurance companies pay the price of the emergency response in at-fault accidents.

“The taxpayers of Quincy ought not to be holding the financial bag because of someone’s negligence, especially gross negligence. They insure that conduct, they ought to be held accountable for that conduct,” said Daniel Raymondi, a Quincy City Councilor.

An official with the state’s insurance federation questioned Quincy’s ability to enact the ordinance. They also said they pay their fair share of taxes, including funding the state’s fire academy.

Even though the ordinance prohibits individual drivers from getting billed, some people said they’ll still end up paying for it.

“Ultimately, the insurance company is only going to come back at individuals. They’re gonna drive all of our rates up,” said Michael Barret.

Others are giving the idea the green light.

“Believe me, when that fire alarm goes, if it’s your house, you want that apparatus to show up, you want them to have enough men on the truck to be able to put the fire out,” said Janice Malvesti.

In a separate move, the City Council is now allowing the fire department to bill for false alarms. If residents or business owners have three false fire alarms in one year, they will be billed $100. For each additional false fire alarm, they will face a $200 fine.

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