The insurance sector is a vital area built on trust, sustainability, and ethical values, holding critical importance for the country’s economy. As ELSADER, we believe that preserving this strong structure is possible not only through legal regulations but also through the sense of responsibility carried by all sector stakeholders.

However, recently, we have been anxiously observing that the aggressive policies carried out by some intermediary institutions under the name of “commission rebate (risturn)” have explicitly reached a dimension contrary to the legislation and professional ethics. Such unethical initiatives not only create unfair competition in the market; they also reduce the quality and value of insurance services, damage the reliability of our sector which should be unshakable, and seriously victimize tens of thousands of agencies working strictly by the rules.

22 Thousand Agencies and Our Employment Power Cannot Be Ignored

There are approximately 22,000 insurance agencies in our country, including their branches. By providing employment for at least three people each, our agencies constitute one of the lifebloods of our economy. In a country where unemployment rates are a sensitive issue; it is completely unacceptable for us as ELSADER that traditional insurance agencies—which create employment, pay taxes, and build one-on-one relationships of trust with customers—are put in a difficult situation by the unfair competition policies of some large digital intermediaries.

Our Open Call to the Competition Authority and Insurance Companies:

It is no longer possible to remain silent in the face of practices such as commission rebates. As ELSADER, our demands from the competent authorities to protect fair competition are as follows:

• We demand that an urgent initiative be taken to prevent 22,000 agencies from being exposed to unfair competition, and that the issue be brought to the Competition Authority to initiate the necessary investigations.
• The necessary legal steps must be taken without delay to enact the “Rebate Law”, which the sector has been waiting for a long time and which will prevent unjust profits.
• We urge Insurance Companies, which have called us “business partners” for years, not to be an instrument to such unfair competition structures that victimize their agencies and not to support these platforms.

Insurance is a Race of Trust, Not Discounts

Any mindset that does not act with this awareness and focuses solely on cutting prices and saving the day has no place in our sector.

As ELSADER, we invite all stakeholders to act in accordance with ethical values, legislation, and professional responsibility; and we respectfully announce to the public our resolute stance in protecting the prestige of our sector and the labor of our colleagues.

M. Harun Barut
President of the Elazığ Insurance Agencies Association
Vice President of the SAİK Assembly