Page 11 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

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What kind of online conveniences has the pandemic intro- Several fraud attempts can be encountered in used car sales
duced for appraisal business? What online services have been such as fake appraisal reports and under-the-counter services.
launched in this field by TOBB, SEİK or TÜSED? What do you recommend for people to avoid such fraudulent
acts?
With the launch of remote appraisal, a method that has long been
needed by our profession has found a ground of practice. After SBM Recent fake appraisal reports and fraudulent activities in car sales
(Insurance Information Center) lifted IP restrictions, it became transactions are actually conducted by commercial appraisal com-
possible to provide appraisal activities in the home-office model. panies, but are unfortunately mistaken for insurance appraisal pro-
Our professional association simultaneously implemented remote fession. Therefore, we would like to shed light on this matter. First
appraisal model, and contributed to its realization. of all, the Regulation on the Trade of Second Hand Motor Land
Vehicles was issued by the Ministry of Trade on 13 February 2018.
What is the current situation of claims processes and remote Appraisal activities referred in the regulation are carried out by
appraisal works? What kind of feedbacks do you receive from merchants and craftsmen who own a license for their enterprise.
customers for those remote processes? The license is given, renewed and cancelled by the provincial direc-
torates of trade. On the other hand, we insurance appraisers pro-
In the beginning of the pandemic, most of claims processes were vide services to detect insured losses to vehicles using our authori-
conducted online via remote appraisal; however, as time passed, zation from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and registration
physical appraisal activities became more frequent, approaching at TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of
the levels of pre-pandemic period. We believe that remote appraisal Turkey). To sum up, even though the name of our profession might
is not received well by the customers. However, as the appraisal be the same; they are actually different activities.
process for auto losses is conducted with the repair services, re-
mote model is received positively by the services and repair shops. To avoid any manner of fraudulent activities, we recommend every-
In non-auto lines, especially for civil risks, some customers may one to work with known and trustworthy appraisal companies. In
abstain from the risk of infection. Remote working has been more order to protect themselves from fake appraisal reports, they are
useful and comfortable in such cases. advised to demand services of us insurance appraisers, who are reg-
istered service providers in this area. Moreover, they should defi-
Considering that insurance market has rapidly been digitaliz- nitely notify the units under the Ministry of Trade whenever they
ing, what do you think awaits the appraisal profession in the detect an irregularity and request them to audit those people/com-
digital world of the future? panies. They should apply to legal authorities to compensate for any
losses they might have suffered.
Appraisal profession has to adapt to the digitalization in the mar-
ket; it should even be one step ahead of the market. As the claims
processes are digitalized and completed with less errors and more
rapidly, insurance rates will increase and market will grow. As
TÜSED, we have pioneered this. As Ahmet Nedim Erdem, Chair-
man of TÜSED and SEİK, has repeatedly said on several platforms,
we have created the infrastructure that will enable claims and ap-
praisal processes to be completed in a digital ecosystem. We have
completed our work, and delivered it to SEİK. The process of put-
ting it into use is still ongoing. With this digital ecosystem, we aim
to reduce operational loads, support decision-making process for
appraisers, ensure instant access to accurate information, and cre-
ate a structure where policyholders can monitor their claims pro-
cesses and have direct contact with their providers.

Recently, catastrophic events have been occurring in our coun-
try; we did not have them that frequently in the past. Floods,
whirlwinds, tsunamis… How does appraisal process work for
such events?

Our colleagues organize themselves rapidly in the aftermath of such
catastrophic events and swiftly go to the region. To ensure that ap-
praisal processes are completed as fast as possible, SEİK announced
codes of practice to follow especially in DASK/Earthquake loss ad-
justments. This helped claims processes to be completed faster and
more accurately. Messaging groups created for communication and
to solve the problems during loss adjustment activities are used very
actively. Thanks to this level of organization, we believe our profes-
sion group has been very successful in the appraisal processes that
followed Elazığ-Malatya and İzmir earthquakes in 2020.