Who is liable after a collision
Turkish traffic law makes the registered keeper (işleten) of a motor vehicle liable for harm caused by its operation, regardless of fault, subject to narrow defences such as force majeure or gross fault of the injured party. The driver is separately liable for his or her own fault. For rental cars, the keeper is often the rental company, so its compulsory policy is the first point of contact.
Every vehicle on Turkish roads must carry compulsory motor liability insurance (zorunlu trafik sigortası). It covers the other party's losses up to policy limits, but not all of them: indirect losses such as the cost of a replacement car or lost business income, and all non-pecuniary damages, fall outside it and must be claimed from the driver and keeper.
Damage to the vehicle and diminished value
Repair costs and diminished value (değer kaybı), meaning the fall in the car's resale value after the accident, can be claimed from the at-fault vehicle's compulsory insurer. No diminished value claim lies under that policy for a car deregistered or scrapped because of the damage. The general conditions of compulsory motor insurance were revised in 2026, so any assessment should be read against the version in force on the date of the claim.
If you hold comprehensive cover, your own insurer may pay first and then pursue the other side. Items not covered by your policy can still be claimed from the at-fault party. The share of loss matching your own degree of fault is not paid by the compulsory insurer.
Insurer, arbitration or court
A written application to the insurer is mandatory before any court action or arbitration for claims within compulsory insurance limits. If the insurer does not reply in time or the offer is insufficient, the claimant may choose between the Insurance Arbitration Commission (Sigorta Tahkim Komisyonu), which decides on the documents, and the courts. A court claim against an insurance company is a commercial case: mediation (arabuluculuk) must be attempted first. The claim may also be filed at the court for the place of the accident.
Police reports, fault and criminal proceedings
In damage-only accidents drivers may complete a joint accident report, on paper or through the mobile application. Where someone is injured, the police or gendarmerie (jandarma) prepare the report. The fault allocation in it is not binding on arbitrators or judges, who commonly appoint an independent court assessor (bilirkişi). Camera footage from nearby junctions is overwritten quickly, so it should be requested without delay.
Injury accidents may lead to a criminal investigation for negligent injury. In most cases this depends on a complaint filed within six months of learning of the act and the offender. The civil judge is not bound by the criminal court's findings on fault or by an acquittal, so a compensation claim does not need to wait for the criminal case.
Time limits and foreign-registered vehicles
Claims for material loss become time-barred two years after the claimant learns of the damage and the liable person, and in any event ten years after the accident, unless a longer criminal limitation period applies. Vehicles entering Turkey without valid local cover must buy compulsory insurance at the border; for Green Card vehicles, claims are handled through the Turkish Motor Insurers' Bureau (Türkiye Motorlu Taşıt Bürosu). Bodily injury caused by an uninsured or unidentified vehicle can be claimed from the insurers' compensation account (Güvence Hesabı). At the Konyaaltı office, the report, policy details and repair documents should be reviewed together before the first application.