The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) has received 891,774 claims, related to 1,403 earthquakes, and made payments for 701,696 of the filed claims since its establishment.
Established to create a financial security system against the material losses caused by the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, TCIP began operations on 27 September 2000.
TCIP Secretary General Balkir Demirkan said, “The damage payments we have made since our establishment have exceeded TRY42bn ($857m). These payments are spread over a 26-year period. The total equivalent of the payments made on different dates, calculated based on the exchange rates at the time of payment, is approximately $2bn. This magnitude is one of the important indicators of the financial security that DASK provides to its policyholders.”
TCIP, which has created a broad insurance ecosystem with its stakeholders around compulsory earthquake insurance, currently provides financial security against earthquakes to 11.7m residences. The Pool’s penetration rate stands at 58% currently.
Going forward, the Pool is focusing on data sharing, artificial intelligence, and land registry integration. It has implemented technological innovations in various areas, from policy production and claims management to digital services and inter-institutional data sharing.
Furthermore, the Pool has switched to a common data model and developed a methodology with the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change to standardise post-earthquake damage assessment processes.
Following web service integration with the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, mandatory insurance checks for real estate sales transactions for new homeowners and for electricity and water subscriptions established via e-Government have been automated. Digital access to DASK services has also been facilitated through e-Government integrations.
TCIP is currently awaiting legislation for its scope of operations to cover disasters apart from earthquakes.