TÜSAF Issues Unfair Competition Warning to the Sector

TÜSAF (Türkiye's federation of insurance agencies' associations) issued a statement to the public, the insurance sector and the regulator on 5 May 2026. Signed by Chair Adnan Çelik, the statement argued that agencies were being deliberately cut out among distribution channels.

The federation described campaigns recently run by a bank and by digital platforms as a direct threat to agencies' existence, and said it was watching with regret the stance of insurance companies that supported this process by underwriting policies for it. At the centre of the dispute were campaigns offering the consumer who purchased a policy a cash or commission refund.

Criticism of insurance companies

TÜSAF said it found it incompatible with commercial ethics for insurance companies to stress the importance of agencies on every platform while giving an advantage to bank and digital channels behind the scenes.

The federation described the practice of creating different pricing and refund campaigns across distribution channels, cutting agencies out, as unfair competition, and called for these practices, which exclude the agency system, to be reviewed and ended.

Call to SEDDK

Under the heading "our call to SEDDK," the statement also addressed the sector's regulator. TÜSAF said it expected SEDDK (Türkiye's insurance and pension regulator) to urgently step in against refund campaigns that mislead consumers and against unequal competition conditions in price comparison processes. The federation also said the current situation would harm the sector's credibility in the long run.

Call for unity to 20,000 agencies

According to the statement, the TÜSAF board convened urgently over the developments and decided on a series of actions against the unfair competition. Çelik called for unity among agencies across Türkiye, saying: "it is vital for our 20,000 agencies to act in unity and solidarity, as one."

Çelik, who also stressed that the profession would not be left to the mercy of banks and digital platforms, announced that "we will initiate legal proceedings before the relevant authorities" against practices that continued regardless.