The insurance sector will make an earthquake payment of 76 billion TL
Atilla Benli, President of the Turkish Insurance Association (TSB) and General Manager of Turkish Insurance, made remarks about the work in the region after the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş.
Benli stated that the insurance rate in the cities where disasters occurred was between 17 and 20 percent and the insurance rate of the Natural Disaster Insurance Institution (DASK) was 49 percent, and continued as follows manner:
“There are regions with higher rates in Türkiye. Of course, the insurance rate is not enough for a country like Türkiye. After the earthquake there is a total of 66 thousand damage files. Our industry has taken action on these files very quickly. He finished the damage operations and made a serious payout. In the first determination, we calculate that there is a total of 76 billion TL in payment of damages to the insured private sector. Approximately 2.5-3 billion of this has been paid out.”
“NO APPLICATION NEEDED FOR LIFE INSURANCE”
Benli stated that information on life insurance will be shared with the industry from the Insurance Information Center and people will not need to apply, saying, “We will have to pay about 1 billion lira for life insurance. Since the Insurance Information Center will download the data in bulk, there will be no need for notification. The data of 44 thousand people is mentioned. The information of these people will be combined with the information of the insurance companies and will be ready to be paid to the corresponding beneficiaries and heirs. Our insurance companies are ready, we are doing our transactions in the back so that they pay without waiting for notices”. he said.
Speaking about the condition of the damaged vehicles in the earthquake area, Benli said, “There are vehicles in the earthquake area that cannot be recognized. We identify them from their license plates, chassis numbers, and our experts and damage personnel in the field, open our files directly and reach out to our policyholders and try to pay them. There are also direct reports. We’ve made quite a bit of progress there. As Türkiye Sigorta, our goal was to complete our operations and claims files by the end of April. We estimate that the insurance industry will be able to pay 95 percent of all claims, including commercial ones, by the end of June.” he used his statements.
INTEREST IN INSURANCE INCREASED
Noting that interest in insurance increased in the disaster region and throughout Turkey in the post-earthquake period, Benli said:
“Currently, there is a 4-5 percent increase in both natural disaster insurance and home and auto insurance compared to before the earthquake. This figure will increase even more in this region when life returns to normal after the state of alarm. These figures were also reflected in Türkiye in general. There is also a 3-4% increase there. Of course, this is not enough. In a country like Türkiye, insurance rates of 20-30 percent are low. Natural disaster insurance is already mandatory insurance, it should be 100 percent. However, we must exceed 50 percent for all insurance rates such as optional home insurance, auto insurance, work packages, lost earnings, business interruption. A rate below 50 percent is really a failure in terms of insurance for a country like Turkey. In developed countries, especially in insurance against natural disasters, the insurance sector covers 45 percent of the damage caused by natural disasters. In our country, this is about 3-5 percent. More burden for this state makes it very difficult for citizens to transition to their economic life after such a disaster.” (AA)