First quarter premiums exceed 100 billion liras
Premium income in the insurance sector increased by 140 percent to 103.8 billion liras in the first three months of 2023. In real terms, the growth rate was 60 percent. Premium income in property and casualty insurance rose 146 percent to 92 billion liras and in life insurance 104 percent to 11.8 billion liras. About 22 billion liras of property and casualty premiums came from transport insurance, 18.5 billion liras from health insurance, 16.5 billion liras from motor insurance, and 13 billion liras from fire and natural disaster insurance.
Inadequate policy in earthquake insurance
Özgür Yılmaz, chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce’s Insurance Committee, said the vast majority of (earthquake) insurance policies taken out by banks are inadequate. “At the moment, this is where all the victimization lies. I would like to emphasize this once again. No one should be able to tinker with the square footage of mandatory earthquake insurance. Policies should not be underwritten according to the wishes and demands of individuals.”
Insurance is too serious a matter to leave to insurers. The chairman of the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (IPRSA), Mehmet Akif Eroğlu, said the institution is about to become more active. Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Turkish Insurance Association, Eroğlu said, “The issue of insurance is too serious a matter to be left to insurers.” “Awareness of insurance is low even among industrialists. It is unacceptable that the insured’s phone number is not registered with the TCIP institution. We will eliminate the learned helplessness. This is a serious matter and we will continue with those who are serious.”
We need to discipline the 26 million motorists
IPRSA Chairman Mehmet Akif Eroğlu said the aim is to help reduce the number of traffic accidents with the new dynamic tariff system introduced in traffic insurance. “We need to discipline the driving behavior of 26 million motorists,” Eroğlu said at a seminar on “IPRSA’s New Roadmap in Traffic Insurance” held at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Insurance Committee. “We have prepared a roadmap that will encourage drivers who cause accidents because they do not follow the rules to become good drivers,” he said. “This way, there will be fewer traffic accidents and thus premiums will go down. Insurance company shareholders do not invest in funding traffic monsters.”
Bekir Engürülü becomes new CEO of TARSIM
Bekir Engürülü was named as CEO of Insurance of Agriculture (TARSIM). Engürülü held senior positions in various departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for many years and has been involved in several agricultural insurance projects, including the drafting of the Agricultural Insurance Law. Most recently, he was deputy head of the Agricultural Reform Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Engürülü is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Insurance of Agriculture.
Share transfer completed in sale of Groupama Sigorta to AXA
The share transfer was completed after legal approvals were granted for AXA’s purchase of 100 percent of Groupama’s insurance business in Turkey, announced earlier this year. AXA Sigorta will further strengthen its presence in the market after acquiring the shares of Groupama Investment Bosphorus Holding, which controls Groupama Sigorta and Groupama Hayat.
TRNC insurance industry meeting organized by Millî Reasürans
The 10th annual seminar organized by Millî Reasürans to address the insurance industry in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was held on April 25 under the title “The Earthquake Geology of Cyprus from the Perspective of Insurance and Structural Assessments.” At the seminar, the geological structure of Cyprus was assessed in terms of risks and relevant examples were presented.
“The industry needs to prepare for its biggest test, the Marmara quake
Anadolu Sigorta CEO Mehmet Tuğtan said that the company has so far paid TL 2 billion in compensation for damage claims resulting from the Feb. 6 earthquake epicentered in Kahramanmaraş, adding that Anadolu Sigorta is responsible for 26 percent of the total claims in the region. The disaster is once again a reminder of the predicted Marmara quake, Tuğtan said. “As an industry, we must now prepare for the Marmara quake and derive new homework from this lesson.”
Rising car insurance premiums also a problem in the US
While vehicle owners in Turkey are looking for solutions to car and traffic insurance premiums, which have risen faster than the rate of inflation, especially in the last year, drivers in America are facing the same problem… Auto insurance is one of the areas most affected by the turmoil that has gripped the global economy in the post-pandemic period. In addition to rapidly rising auto prices due to insufficient supply, higher commodity prices, and the chip crisis, inflation, which drove up labor and repair costs, drove up the cost of claims for insurance companies extremely high, which in turn affected premiums. Auto insurance premiums in the US rose three times as fast as the general inflation rate last year.
Technology giants have their eyes on Lumnion
Lumnion, which was founded about three years ago, works with giants such as SAP and Amazon through a company set up in Germany, and receives investments from many different companies, including Sabancı Holding. The CEO of Lumnion, Cenk Tabakoğlu, said that they have always believed in domestic companies to succeed globally. “From the very beginning, Lumnion’s goal was to compete in foreign markets,” Tabakoğlu said in an interview prepared for our 744th issue. “At this stage, we became one of the top five companies in the world in insurance rates.”
