INSURANCE BROKERS WANT HALF OF THE MARKET
An interview with Mr. Levent NART as the president of the Association of Insurance Brokers of Turkey was published in the December 2005 issue of the magazine Capital.
‘’ Mr. Levent Nart , the president of the Association of Insurance Brokers of Turkey…. He says that this business is growing fast, although it is a new field. As evidence, he refers to the fact that the number of companies in that sector reached 50. He says that the broker companies in Turkey have a 12% share in the market, compared to 70% in the US. ‘Within the next 5 years, this rate will reach 50% in Turkey” he says.
The system of insurance brokers, widespread in developed countries, is only 5 years old in Turkey. The system obtained a legal infrastructure in the form of a bylaw on Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers in 2000. At the present, there are 50 companies in Turkey active in this sector.
The system of brokers is new to Turkey and insurance customers are not familiar enough with it yet. It is based on rendering a kind of “representative of the insured” service to entities and individuals. The main function of a broker consists of representing the customer vis-à-vis the insurance company.
Brokers started in the life insurance, non life insurance and reinsurance branches of the insurance sector. They do business under a license from the Treasury. Their share in the market in Turkey is around 12 per cent as at the end of 2005.
Mr. Levent Nart, president of the Association of Insurance Brokers, says that their are making their plans on the assumption that this rate will reach 50% within the next five years.