Insuring your Istanbul Property against earthquakes

DASK or TCIP earthquake insurance is provided by the Turkish Government and is compulsory for homeowners.

TCIP or Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (DASK in Turkish) is a public sector insurance entity providing catastrophe risk insurance for owners of property in Turkey. The DASK program does not provide risk insurance for any build that does not have a valid construction licence, so has given incentive to Turkish builders to comply with new construction regulations.

Before buying any property built before 2007, checks should be carried out to make sure the build is earthquake compliant. The seller should provide you with the Use of Building Permit (Yapi Kullanma Izni) or Habitation Certificate (Oturma Izni/Ruhsati).

Turkey is located on an active geological plate which has been the source of a number of earthquakes throughout the country’s history. The majority of earthquakes are in the heartland of the country around the Anatolian region, which includes the capital Ankara. However, Istanbul is along this fault line and although it has not been hit by a major quake since 1766, precautions by insuring yourself against any future problems is essential. Most areas of Turkey receive relatively few earthquakes, although tremors can be felt hundreds of kilometers away, but these present no dangers to property.

The whole country now has a building code especially devoted to earthquake-resistant design, that is a highly sophisticated construction of reinforced concrete buildings.

Building regulations in Turkey since 2007 have been governed by "TSE" standards which are similar to British Standards in the UK. All new projects must offer a minimum five year full structural guarantee which is often ten or more years - similar to the UK's NHBC scheme.

In order to arrange DASK earthquake insurance on your property in Turkey you would need to provide the following:
A Copy of the Tapu (title deeds)
Passport numbers of all persons named on Tapu
The Square meterage of the property and land
The address of the property

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