Special Section: Insurance Crisis

The Rats In Tally

Posted Jan 16, 2007 by Baird Helgeson

Updated Jan 16, 2007 at 02:00 PM

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  It’s 7 a.m. in a Dillard’s parking lot in Port Richey and already Peter Garbacki is talking about rats.
 
He’s a member of the group Having Affordable Coverage, formerly known as Homeowners Against Citizens, which rented a bus to take more than 50 homeowners to Tallahassee to protest soaring property insurance premiums. The group plans to rally during the beginning of a special legislative session that begins today to deal with the insurance crisis.

  “The rats have seven days to fix the problem,” Garbacki said.

  Garbacki has battled Citizens Property Insurance Corp. for two years over a mold claim he said the state-created insurer won’t pay. Garbacki said he doubts that lawmakers have the strength or desire to stand up to the powerful insurance industry.

  “I’m going there to watch the rats lie to us,” he said.

  As a retired Spring Hill fire commissioner, Garbacki is concerned that the state doesn’t have updated records that pinpoint the location of fire hydrants and fire stations. More hydrants and stations mean lower property insurance rates for homeowners. He thinks the lists are obsolete, which could mean that homeowners are paying needlessly higher insurance rates.

  A self-proclaimed community watchdog, Garbacki said he looks forward to stirring things up in Tallahassee.

  As the bus left the parking lot, Garbacki and other members of the group watched several television news crews that showed up to cover the departure.