TRAFFIC INSURANCE AND LEGAL SOLUTIONS

TRAFFIC INSURANCE

Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance, or traffic insurance as it is commonly known, as defined by the Highway Traffic Law No. 2918, is, in its simplest form, the coverage provided by insurance companies for damages resulting from accidents on highways. This insurance is mandatory for all vehicle owners by the state. The coverage includes material damages, medical expenses, and death costs . A report is prepared by a designated expert, taking into account fault percentages and policy limits, to prevent any loss of rights for the individual. Based on this report, the amounts and compensation to be covered by the insurance company are determined. Individuals enter into a contract with insurance companies beforehand for this process. This contract is valid for one year and must be renewed annually. The content of this contract between individuals and insurance companies is defined by the General Terms and Conditions of Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance published in the Official Gazette dated May 14, 2015, and numbered 29355 .

LEGAL NATURE The legal nature of these contracts is debatable. The question arises whether these General Conditions, due to their uniform application to all contracts, should be considered general terms and conditions as defined in the Code of Obligations, or whether they constitute an administrative act, given that they were prepared by the administration and published in the Official Gazette. The majority view is that this contract is a general terms and conditions contract because the parties cannot negotiate the terms with the insurance company. However, the fact that it was prepared by the administration and published in the Official Gazette does not make it an administrative act, because lawsuits against administrative acts are filed against the administration in the form of a lawsuit for the annulment of the administrative act. In contrast, in the case of traffic insurance, when a dispute arises, individuals file lawsuits directly against the insurance companies. In practice, disputes between individuals and insurance companies often end up in court due to reasons such as disagreements over the determined compensation costs. In short, while traffic insurance is legally mandatory and the content of the insurance contract is determined by law by the administration, individuals must sue the insurance company when they suffer losses based on the determined fault and compensation rates; this distinguishes it from an administrative act.

Lawsuits filed against insurance companies are
based on the Traffic Law and General Terms and Conditions, which list certain obligations of both drivers and insurers.
Disputes usually
arise from non-compliance with these obligations or from disagreements over the amount determined in the expert report.

1.Insurance Company's Violation of Obligations
:  According to Article 101 of the Turkish Road Traffic Law, compulsory financial liability insurance
is provided by insurance companies authorized to operate in the field of accident insurance in Turkey. These insurance companies
are obligated to provide compulsory financial liability insurance.
 Insurance companies are obligated to issue policies in accordance with the law;
contracts that increase or decrease the liability of vehicle owners cannot be made
the health expenses of the injured parties and the material damages to the vehicle in proportions consistent with the law
.
Vehicle owners can file lawsuits against insurance companies on the grounds that these conditions have not been met or properly fulfilled
.

2. Disagreement on the Determined Compensation and Situations Where the Insurance Company May Refuse to Pay the Damage: Drivers who believe the damage and compensation amounts determined by the insurance company's expert report are unfair and wish to appeal should first check certain obligations they must fulfill and the situations in which the insurance company may refuse to pay compensation . If, despite all these conditions and obligations being met, it is still believed that the determined monetary compensation is inappropriate, then an appeal should be filed against this amount.

A. Vehicle Owner's Obligations According to Articles 91 and 94 of the Turkish Road Traffic Law and General Conditions C1, C2, C3, B1, and B4, the vehicle owner, or operator as the law calls them, has certain obligations. These are:  Obligation to enter into a contract and pay premiums  Obligation to report accidents and lawsuits to the insurer and to provide documents and information  Obligation to notify in case of a change of operator  Obligation to report changes that aggravate the risk. If vehicle owners fail to comply with these conditions, insurance companies may refuse to pay compensation. Therefore, vehicle owners must first fulfill these conditions. In addition, the law also lists some situations that relieve the insurance company of liability.

B. Circumstances Exempting the Insurer from Liability  The insurer is exempted from liability if the insurance company proves that the accident resulted from force majeure, the gross negligence of the injured party, or a third party . (Turkish Road Traffic Law, Article 86)  Bodily and property damages suffered by the vehicle owner  Damages to the property of the vehicle owner's relatives  Damages to goods transported by the vehicle  Non-pecuniary damages  Damages to the vehicle during a motor vehicle race cannot be claimed from the insurance company (Turkish Road Traffic Law, Article 92) If the above-mentioned obligations of the vehicle owner and the circumstances exempting the insurer from liability exist, insurance companies may refuse to cover the damage; therefore, it should first be checked whether these conditions are present in the specific case. If the vehicle owners have fulfilled all their obligations and the above-mentioned circumstances that would cause the insurance company to refuse coverage do not exist, the vehicle owners can take this dispute to court with legal support. In this way, potential loss of rights can be prevented, and the damage can be covered by the insurance company in accordance with the fault ratios.

SUDE AKBALIK/HÜSEYİN DOĞAN