Thomas Baker, the Daytona Beach Shores condo owner who complained about his building’s property insurance rate rocketing up 563% last year, took his concerns to Tallahassee this week.
Unlike the lobbyists in their business suits, the 80-year-old Vietnam veteran and U.S. Army retiree wore his uniform to stand out in the Florida Capitol halls.
Baker, a resident of Marbella Condominiums in Daytona Beach Shores, brought with him two messages: He’s angry and he has ideas on how to reduce rates for condo owners across the state.
Marbella, as did much of the state, suffered damage during the hurricane season of 2022. And that was on top of the insurance industry’s disruption with the deadly Champlain Towers South condo collapse in Surfside in 2021.
During Ian and Nicole, the Atlantic Ocean battered Marbella’s seawall, leading to extensive damage to the pool deck. None of that was covered by insurance.
Then, as 2023 started, the homeowners were dealt a second blow: that nearly six-fold increase for casualty coverage, as reported in The News-Journal last November.