Heavy rain that hit İstanbul on 18 July 2017 caused extreme flash flooding incidents. Erhan Bozkurt, Deputy Secretary General of the Insurance Association of Turkey (TSB), made a statement about the losses caused by flooding incidents and said: Flood is the second biggest risk in our country, considering its frequency and intensity. Driven by the impacts of climate change, flood risk has become a more frequently encountered risk around the world. Citizens who have suffered losses due to the damages of recent flooding to their vehicles, residences and workplaces can be compensated via insurance policies (homeowners, workplace and motor own damage) that include flood coverage. As always, our market will take necessary actions as fast as possible to cover for the losses of policyholders." 

Bozkurt added: "We do not have any conclusive data about the amount of insured losses caused by the flooding incidents due to heavy rains in İstanbul. Cost of flood incidents are generally higher in urban areas with higher economic activities. For instance, the most recent flood loss we had experienced was dated 2009. This catastrophe caused the death of 31 citizens and damaged Selimpaşa, Çatalca, İkitelli Basın Ekspres yolu, Halkalı, Arnavutköy, Sultangazi, Bağcılar, Eyüp, Esenler, Bahçelievler, Başakşehir, Büyükçekmece provinces. The resulting cost for the insurance market was 700 million TL. These catastrophes are generally result of buildings constructed in stream beds and/or lack of infrastructure to support urbanization; or the same reasons cause the damages to be much more severe. 

Turkish insurance market has always done and will continue to do its part in this regard. Our market makes a huge contribution to the protection of national wealth by on-sight monitoring and recommendation activities to decrease the risk levels of policyholders in its portfolio, and by compensating for financial losses in cases where risks cannot be prevented. 

However, insurance awareness is unfortunately has still not reached the desired levels. Demand for insurance only increases after catastrophes; and after a while those policies are not renewed. 

Therefore, it is highly important to take lessons from experiences and take necessary precautions."