Josie Tomkow Discovers Homeowner Rights
Josie Tomkow’s “move” from Polk County to Hillsborough County has brought more than an address change and a shift in legislative districts. It appears she’s had some grand epiphany about the challenges homeowners face after years of changes to Florida’s insurance laws. In a recent campaign handout outlining her plans if elected to the Senate, Tomkow says she wants to “Create a homeowners Bill of Rights to ensure your claims are fully paid.”
Good for her. There is just one small problem: Florida already has a Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights. In fact, it has been part of state law since 2014. Perhaps the mail from Tallahassee just takes longer to reach South Tampa than I realized.
Current law requires residential property insurers to give policyholders a Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights after a claim is filed. This document explains timelines for acknowledging claims, determining coverage, providing estimates, paying undisputed amounts, and other protections. While it does not create a separate right to sue, the main point is that Florida already has what Tomkow now says she wants to create.
Her recent concern for homeowners is especially notable when you look at her voting record.
In 2019, Tomkow voted for HB 7065, which changed assignment-of-benefits claims and made it harder for contractors and others handling homeowners’ claims to recover legal fees from insurance companies. In 2021, she supported SB 76, which added steps before policyholders could sue insurers and linked attorney-fee recovery to how much the homeowner recovered compared to what the insurance company had offered.
In the 2022 insurance special sessions, Tomkow voted for SB 2-D, which made the rules around property-insurance lawsuits and attorney fees even stricter. Later that year, she supported SB 2-A, which brought one of the biggest changes of all. Before this law, homeowners who sued their insurance company and won could usually have the insurer pay their reasonable attorney fees. SB 2-A eliminated that automatic protection.
This has real-world effects. Insurance companies have legal teams, claims experts, and lots of courtroom experience. Most homeowners just have a damaged roof, some estimates, and the faint hope that their policy will actually help them. If they need to hire a lawyer to get paid, even winning can now mean paying legal costs out of their own settlement.
In 2023, Tomkow voted yes on HB 837. This law took the same approach beyond property insurance, removing one-way attorney-fee protections in more types of insurance cases and limiting when insurers can be held financially responsible for bad-faith handling of claims.
Now add the campaign money.
Throughout her political career, Tomkow’s campaigns have received contributions from insurance companies and groups involved in insurance and civil-liability policy. These include SafePoint, Heritage, Allstate, Capitol Preferred, Southern Fidelity, St. John’s, Windhaven, and the Florida Insurance Council.
In the current Senate cycle, records show at least $2,500 from three groups closely connected to insurance policy: $1,000 from the Florida Insurance Council, $1,000 from the Committee for Florida Justice Reform, and $500 from former Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier. Altmaier was Insurance Commissioner during the major 2022 property-insurance changes and later joined The Southern Group to lead an insurance advisory practice.
Of course, none of this proves that anyone bought Tomkow’s votes. Campaign checks rarely arrive with a Hallmark card saying, “Thanks for weakening attorney-fee protections.”
But voters can notice a pattern.
For years, Tomkow voted for laws that reduced homeowners’ leverage when challenging insurance companies. Now, after arriving in Hillsborough County and running for a new office, she says she wants to make sure claims are “fully paid” and create a Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights that already exists in Florida.
Perhaps this really is a political conversion.
If that is the case, homeowners might wonder why this realization came after all those votes instead of before.
Sources
- Florida House of Representatives – Josie Tomkow member profile, 2024–2026
- Florida Division of Elections – Josie Tomkow, 2026 State Senate District 14 candidate filing
- Florida Statutes §627.7142 – Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights
- Florida Legislature – HB 7065 (2019), Insurance Assignment Agreements
- Florida Legislature – SB 76 (2021), Property Insurance
- Florida Legislature – SB 2-D (2022 Special Session), Property Insurance
- Florida Legislature – SB 2-A (2022 Special Session), Property Insurance
- Florida Legislature – HB 837 (2023), Civil Remedies
- Florida Division of Elections – Josie Tomkow campaign contribution records
- Florida Insurance Council – organization and legislative advocacy information
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation – 2022 legislative materials
- The Southern Group – David Altmaier insurance advisory practice
