Page 19 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

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What activities DASK has been engaged in following the Earthquake Insurance. The Law made it obligatory to have com-
İzmir earthquake? pulsory earthquake insurance policy for mortgage and title deed
transactions, as well as while subscribing for utility services,
We have immediately started working after the earthquake. which reflected positively on the insurance rates.
Our team has been working uninterruptedly since the day of the
earthquake both in and out of the region. We have been collect- As DASK, we continue to create awareness to increase insurance
ing claims via our contact center “Alo DASK 125”, our website ownership rates with projects we have been carrying out since
www.dask.gov.tr, and e-state platform. We are serving our pol- 2000. We have encouraged local governments in 81 cities to run
icyholders and respond to the questions of people living in the local awareness campaigns to increase ownership of Compulso-
region at two “DASK Communication Center” units we have ry Earthquake Insurance through our competition called “Cit-
established at İzmir Provincial Directorate of Environment and ies Compete, Policyholders Win” that has been organized since
Urban Planning and at Bayraklı Charity Point. We are in con- 2011. We launched another competition in 2014 called “DASK
stant communication and work in coordination with AFAD (Dis- Earthquake-Resistant Building Design Competition” with the
aster and Emergency Management Presidency) and related de- aim of increasing earthquake awareness in civil engineering stu-
partments of the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. dents to whom we will entrust our future, and improve their
skills of designing earthquake-resistant buildings.
Our experts were in the field for loss adjustment activities within
3 days following the earthquake. We have made the first com- We are still in the pilot phase of our project called “Our priority
pensation payments on the 3rd day. As of 30 November, we have is safety, our responsibility is insurance”, which was launched
received 21 thousand 500 claims and paid 102 million TL for in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education. The
finalized claims. project aims to create awareness about compulsory earthquake
insurance in 4th grade primary school students with the motto
What are the reinsurance levels provided to DASK for the “Earthquake is our lesson, hurray precaution!” As DASK, we
earthquake? have always brought the importance of being prepared for earth-
quakes under the spotlight and tried to reach everyone with our
As DASK, we attach great importance to increasing our solven- projects.
cy against potential earthquakes. Thanks to our accumulated
earthquake reserves and reinsurance capabilities, we have in- What is your action plan for the estimated major İstanbul
creased our ability to pay claims from 25 million TL to 40 mil- earthquake?
lion TL as of November 2020.
As DASK, we are accounting for a potential major earthquake
Is there an increase in demand for compulsory earthquake in İstanbul in all our plans. We are carrying out activities that
insurance following the earthquake? will enhance our operational and financial strength in order to
be ready for the earthquake. In that respect, we have increased
During the first week after the earthquake, daily number of poli- our claims paying capability to 40 billion TL. Within the scope
cies issued in the Aegean Region increased to 100, now the daily of our Disaster Management Project, we have established a
rate is 40% higher compared to the period before the earth- strong IT infrastructure to respond to our policyholders’ claim
quake. Number of residences protected with Compulsory Earth- faster and more efficiently in case of a potential earthquake. We
quake Insurance in İzmir has increased from 635 thousand to are working towards organizing the human resources and estab-
680 thousand. Growth in the number of policies issued per day lishing the organizational structure to use this IT infrastructure
is currently around 5 percent across Turkey, which was around in the most efficient and productive way possible. We can now
37% in the first few days following the earthquake. carry out loss adjustment processes much faster by using tech-
nological opportunities of mobile devices.
What should be done to ensure that earthquake insurance
is not remembered only after an earthquake and to proceed There was an idea to use accumulated DASK premiums in
with an active decisiveness in this area? renewing buildings before earthquakes. Is it a feasible idea?
What are your thoughts on renewing the buildings using
Majority of our lands are earthquake risk zones. Therefore, it DASK’s resources before an earthquake occurs?
is a must to take precautions against earthquake. It is impossi-
ble to predict the time and magnitude of the earthquake, which As you know, DASK creates a pool with Compulsory Earthquake
makes it essential to prepare for it. First of all, we must be Insurance premiums and that pool is operated according to in-
aware of this risk. Fight against earthquake must start before surance principles. Therefore, our existing earthquake reserves
it occurs. At that point, as DASK, we are offering a financial belong to our citizens who have suffered from an earthquake
precaution against earthquake with very reasonable premiums and have compulsory earthquake policies. As DASK, we are re-
of the Compulsory Earthquake Insurance. sponsible from ensuring that our policyholders can move on with
their lives by compensating for the losses caused by the earth-
The Disaster Law, which came into force on 18 August 2012, quake via Compulsory Earthquake Insurance. I believe that we
has had a significant contribution to expanding Compulsory are already carrying out a very significant mission by doing so.