VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — As thousands are still working to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ian and Nicole last year, members of the Grand Coquina Condo Association in Daytona Beach Shores have been hit yet again, this time by increasing property insurance rates.
“We’re hoping that the outdoor part is done somewhere before Memorial Day. But right now, we’re at DEP’s mercy,” Jeff Sussman said. He is the association treasurer at the Grand Coquina, a 109-unit beachside condo on South Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach Shores, where the damage from the storms is still visible a year later.
“All of that dirt was gone after Hurricane Nicole," Sussman said. "So, we’ve had to redo it, rebuild our drainage system, rebuild the seawall, put in a very complex drainage system in to prevent any issues in the future. And as you can see, we’re get we’re getting there.”
He says the community had close to $5 million worth of damage to the building and the seawall.
“Insurance covered less than 10% of all the damage,” Sussman said.
Yet they saw an increase in their property insurance bill.
“We were paying in the neighborhood of $270,000 a year in 2022 after the storms. They jacked it up,” he said.
The $270,000 is the amount that the Condo Association had to pay in property insurance costs last year to their insurance provider. The new insurance premium is $640,000, a 209% increase.
Condo associations across the state have seen drastic increases in their property insurance rates. Treasurer at Grand Coquina Condominium in Daytona Beach Shores says they went from paying $270k a year to $680k. Tune in to @MyNews13 for the story at 5pm. pic.twitter.com/JWylWPTwbW
— Massiel Leyva (@LeyvaMassiel) November 30, 2023
In order to pay for this increase, Sussman and the association would have to impose an additional assessment of $2,331 per condo for the year.
As a result of these exponential rate hikes, Sussman said many owners at the Coquina are being forced to sell their units simply because they can’t afford them.
“We have a lot of elderly people here on fixed incomes and they’re going to invariably have to sell their units. We had 14 units go up for sale this year, which is way above normal,” Sussman said.
Things are not likely to improve in the near future. Sussman said the association was notified by their insurance agent they can expect another insurance increase of an additional 40% in 2024. He says it would put them at $900,000 per year, which is 450% more than they paid in 2022.
In response, the association is looking for solutions and other options to insure the building.
“There is a little bit of hope," Sussman said. "There are a couple of new companies that came into the market. So, our broker is working with one of them and all we can do is hope. We should have the number any day now and that’ll dictate what our budget is going to be for next year and how much of an assessment we’ll have to do.”
The Grand Coquina Condo Association filed a claim on the flood policy and on the wind policy of their insurance. They are hoping to get a settlement soon. Sussman says they will keep fighting for it.