The Turkish Insurance Experts Association (TUSED), the Turkish Insurance Experts Association, has highlighted discrepancies in the prices and coverage offered in home insurance policies, following large-scale fires that have broken out across Türkiye in recent weeks.
While the average value of the contents of a home today is at least TRY400,000 ($9,955), policies with coverage as low as TRY50,000-100,000 are still available. This situation does not fully cover the loss in the event of damage and causes hardship for citizens, reported Insurance Gazette quoting TUSED.
The average value of home contents is based on assessments by insurance experts working in the field following fires in Izmir, Mugla, Eskisehir, Kocaeli and Hatay, which have resulted in the loss of life and serious damage to numerous homes and vehicles. The fires destroyed nearly 5,000 ha of land. The assessors determined that many residences lacked policies, and those that did have coverage were insufficient.
The TUSED board of directors emphasised the importance of considering the building's construction style and reconstruction costs when issuing policies, and that the coverage of household contents should be determined based on actual purchase costs.
Home insurance penetration is still around 25% across Turkiye. Of the country's 32m households, 23.6m lack any form of insurance other than Compulsory Earthquake Insurance (DASK). The DASK penetration rate is less than 60% at present.
According to the General Directorate of Forestry, 2,520 forest fires damaged 15,520 ha of forest in 2023, and 3,800 forest fires broke out in Turkiye in 2024, damaging 27,000 ha of forest.