Army veteran whose condo insurance jumped 563% last year takes crusade to Tallahassee

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.

That set Baker off.

"We got a bill, but no coverage," he said.

Allowing condos to go without property insurance?

Baker wrote lawmakers, the governor, the media ... anyone he could think of to bring attention to his cause. He got very little response. It caused him to talk about the matter with other residents of condo-heavy Daytona Beach Shores.

He came up with some ideas.

He would like it if condo associations could just do away with any requirement to purchase property insurance.

Another idea is to allow condo owners to get a non-standard mortgage that doesn't require casualty insurance. The owner would pay a higher interest rate, raising the mortgage, but there would be savings by not having to pay the insurance bill.

"For instance, my part of my insurance for my condo is $400 per month. So I’m paying $400 a month for nothing. If someone ... paid $200 more on their mortgage, but saved $200 on their insurance ... that’s the thought process.”

The other idea is to divide the building by the number of residences and have the insurance company cover each one of those individual condos, instead of the whole building.

Baker said he presented his ideas to lawmakers. Well, mostly lawmakers' staff members. He acknowledged he may have misfired by showing up in Tallahassee during the 60-day legislative session when senators and representatives are busy with committee hearings, votes on the floor and other meetings.

Someone told him the lawmakers are voting on the bills before them and are not entertaining anything else. But Baker believes these are not normal times.

“When I was in the military and there was an emergency, the rules went out the window," he said.

Baker said he met with Sen. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, and Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach. Baker said Leek took notes and said one of his ideas might have some merit and that he’d research it.

Leek, who works as chief legal officer for an insurance brokerage, has said actions the Legislature has taken in recent years are slowly starting to create conditions for lower property insurance rates in Florida.

The Republicans who control both chambers of the Legislature are not pursuing major property insurance reforms this session. Democrats have offered a handful of proposals, but none appear to be moving through committees toward passage.

Baker forecasts 'a disaster' for condo owners

Baker said he went to Gov. Ron DeSantis' office, but could not get past the front reception desk, where he left some materials.

He predicts condo owners are facing "a disaster" later this year, when, in addition to high property insurance costs, they will be hit with new condo association assessments, as those associations attempt to recover from exhausting reserves while fixing 2022 hurricane damage, much of which went without claims being paid.

“A couple people that were quite honest about the situation," Baker said. "They had people in their area who owned their own condo, but literally could not afford the assessments. They were literally leaving, selling out, going.”

An assistant for Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, arranged a call with an official from the Florida Department of Financial Services, which includes the insurance division. After The News-Journal called the department seeking comment about Baker's ideas, Baker said he was told the call was off, as he had been discussing it with the media.

Devin Galetta, the department's communications director, said in an email Thursday the meeting between Baker and financial services staff had not occurred and he was happy to help arrange a conversation.

"Our office is happy to meet with constituents to discuss their concerns and ideas related to policy issues," Galetta wrote.

Agitation leads to results

After Baker made headlines talking about Marbella's atmospheric property insurance bill in 2023, something funny happened.

Citizens Property Insurance contacted the condo association and offered a far better rate than what members were expecting for 2024. So the Marbella owners are paying a little more than $135,000 to cover the building's property, about 50% less than the $268,000 bill for 2023.

Even still, the 2024 rate is still about 300% higher than 2022, said Jim Smith, the Marbella condo association president.

“It’s not fixed,” Smith said. “It’s better.”

Smith said condo owners are grateful for Baker's activism.

“We commend Tom for tackling this. This is a humongous task,” Smith said.

Baker, who speaks with the drawl of his North Carolina farm upbringing, said his quixotic mission this week was considered by some to be "crazy," but he feels passionate about straightening out the property insurance mess.

“They done pissed me off. They’re stealing from me. I consider this grand theft,” he said.

The days in Tallahassee were long, particularly for an 80-year-old, Baker acknowledged.

"The truth of it is I have congestive heart failure, for all practical purposes. It’s a friggin’ wonder that I can even walk down the hallway, to be honest with you," he said. "But I’ve been tough as nails my whole life and I don’t give a damn if I drop dead in the hallway.”

Brown & Brown Official: Insurance rates were tough in 2023, but 2024 should be better

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach Shores condo owner talks home insurance in Tallahassee