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The President of the Insurance and Pension Sector's umbrella organization, the Insurance Association of Turkey (TSB), Uğur Gülen, made statements during the 1-7 March 2024 Earthquake Week.
Emphasizing that the insurance sector has the potential to do much more in the event of possible disasters, the President of TSB stated that increasing the number of policyholders could lead to much more successful outcomes. President Gülen also conveyed his get well soon message due to the recent earthquake centered in Çanakkale.
Uğur Gülen continued his words as follows: "The allocation from the state budget for the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes is 105 billion dollars. Our sector has taken on 5 billion dollars of this. If our awareness of insurance and insured assets were higher, as a sector, we could have relieved the burden from our state. This would have returned to our citizens as more investment, employment, and opportunities. One of the most upsetting aspects for us is that insurance behavior emerges 'after the risk occurs' and then cannot be sustained. Although there was a very rapid increase in insurance demand after the February 6 earthquakes, this situation dwindled two months later and fell below even the same period of last year. We must never forget that Turkey is an earthquake-prone country and, moreover, like many countries in the world, it faces new disaster risks due to the climate crisis.”
TSB President emphasized that not only the disaster zone but all of Turkey once again confronted the reality of earthquakes after the February 6 earthquakes. He stressed the importance of embracing the understanding of "Appreciating insurance," stating, "We must avoid remembering earthquakes only when they happen and then forgetting about them as time passes, pretending they never existed. We cannot replace the lives lost in earthquakes, but by raising awareness collectively, we can secure our health and the assets we have painstakingly acquired with insurance to reduce earthquake damage.”
Gülen pointed out that research indicates the expected damage for a potential Marmara earthquake is slightly over $100 billion, with only about 10% of it being insured. He reminded that through the compensations and liabilities paid by the sector, it affected the lives of "260,000 people daily" in 2023, injecting around 1.2 billion Turkish Lira into the economy. The TSB President stated, "It is possible for us to protect the future of our country and our citizens by increasing awareness and consequently improving insurance rates, leading to much better outcomes.”
President Gülen also mentioned that employees of the Turkey Insurance Association received training on what to do during an earthquake. He stated, "Our sector went through a very challenging test after the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. However, with the rapid decisions and actions we took together with all stakeholders, we defined this process with flying colors. We attach great importance to ensuring that our employees are fully prepared for a possible earthquake or disaster. These trainings are of critical importance for the health of our employees and their families first, and then to ensure that our services are not interrupted.”
After the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, which caused great sorrow to our country in 2023 and were referred to as the disaster of the century, insurance companies provided continuous support for the region to return to its former days. They offered 13.3 billion TL in cash aid, containers worth 5.6 million TL, 92 trucks, 9 ambulances, aid materials worth 10.4 million TL, hygiene supplies worth 5.4 million TL, 400 thousand pieces of clothing, 4 field kitchens, 300 thousand food aids, and jointly with TEV, provided 4-year scholarships to 100 university students. The insurance sector continues its support tirelessly to help the region recover after the disaster of the century, marking one year since the event. |
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