Arbitration in insurance is one of the most important innovations brought by the Turkish Insurance Law. Arbitration in insurance is the resolution of disputes between parties by persons called arbitrators instead of state courts. The Insurance Arbitration Commission was established in order to resolve disputes arising from insurance contracts through arbitration in insurance.
In order to apply to the arbitration commission, the person in dispute must first have applied to the insurer, and this application must be partially or completely rejected. In some cases, the insurer does not respond at all to the application. In such cases, if the insurer has not responded after fifteen business days from the application date, the insured has a right to apply to the commission. If the person in dispute files a lawsuit or brings the dispute to the Consumer Arbitration Committee, no application can be made to the Insurance Arbitration Commission.
Compensation claims to be claimed from insurance institutions and organizations can be pursued through the creditor or his/her lawyer, the legal representative of the creditor, or the lawyer to whom the legal representative gives power of attorney. Applications to the Insurance Arbitration Commission can also be made by the persons listed above.
The feature of the arbitration in insurance system is that it is faster than the trial. Arbitrators assigned in arbitration in insurance system are obliged to make a decision within four months at the latest from the date of their appointment, but this period can be extended with the express and written consent of the parties to the dispute. The arbitrator may decide to take the vote and opinion of the expert upon the request of one of the parties or spontaneously, as in the courts.
In the arbitration in insurance system, arbitrator decisions regarding disputes less than five thousand Turkish liras are final. If no objection is made to the arbitral awards given on disputes of five thousand Turkish lira or more, the decision becomes final. The period to object to the decision on the dispute is ten days. In case of objection to the decision within the objection period, the Insurance Arbitration Commission constitutes a committee and the committee decides within two months from the receipt of the matter. The decision rendered upon the objection is final. Appeals can be made for the decisions rendered upon objection regarding disputes over forty thousand Turkish Liras.
We see that the arbitration in insurance system, which was brought to solve the disputes arising from insurance contracts quickly and by experts, has achieved its goal to a great extent. It can be said that the Insurance Arbitration Commission is preferred because it resolves disputes faster and is less costly than the courts. Thanks to the arbitration in insurance system, the workload of our courts is reduced and disputes are resolved in a shorter time.