Özdemir Law Firm

The most significant experience, expertise, and field of practice of our law firm is Insurance and Reinsurance Law. Indeed, consultancy, monitoring, and representation services are provided in high quality and within global standards for any kind of national and international disputes arising from insurance and reinsurance contracts. The Turkish and foreign legislation, judicial decisions, congresses, symposiums, and sectoral developments in this field are meticulously monitored, and knowledge is expanded day by day.

The concept of insurance has ancient roots, and the fundamental idea behind its emergence is the sharing of certain risks that may be encountered in daily life among individuals who may face these risks. Therefore, it can be said that solidarity and security are at the core of insurance.

With an insurance contract, the insurer commits to indemnify or pay a certain amount in the event of the occurrence of the insured risk or event, against a specific premium received from the policyholder. Disputes arising from insurance contracts can arise between the insurer and the policyholder, the insured or the beneficiary. Resolving disputes of this nature requires significant technical and legal expertise and experience, including determining the applicable law for the insurance contract, the applicable regulations, and the competent court, as well as interpreting the general and specific terms of the policy, and establishing whether the parties fulfilled their pre and post-contractual obligations. Our law firm specializes in resolving disputes of this nature and possesses comprehensive knowledge and experience.

Insurance contracts have been classified differently in the literature. In Turkish law, the main classification is into property insurances and liability insurances. Property insurances are further divided into property and liability insurances, while liability insurances are further divided into life insurances, accident insurances, and sickness and health insurances.

The predominant areas of focus for our office in national and international disputes arising from insurance contracts include workplace and residential damages arising from risks such as fire and similar incidents, transportation damages occurring on the road, at sea, in the air, or on the railway, boat and port damages, large-scale machinery damages, claims arising from mandatory and optional professional liability insurances, claims arising from financial, credit, and debt insurances, bodily and material damages arising from traffic accidents. Additionally, our law office diligently monitors disputes arising from all types of insurance contracts not listed here.

Active involvement takes place in the pre-litigation determinations of the damages subject to disputes, both physically and through file examinations. Clients are represented in mediation, litigation, and arbitration stages, and the entire process is closely monitored from the initial stage to the final stage.

Reinsurance, on the other hand, involves the insurer reinsuring the interest insured. It is often referred to in literature as reinsurance. Reinsurance serves as a means of transferring and distributing risk. Here, the insurer reinsuring the interest insured is referred to as the cedant, and the reinsurer reinsuring it is referred to as the reinsurer. There are different types of reinsurance contracts, and determining these types and the legal nature thereof varies from case to case.

Disputes may arise between the cedant and the reinsurer due to reinsurance contracts. In practice, a significant portion of reinsurance contracts have an international character. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the applicable law, competent court, application of provisions such as referring to the PRICL (Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law) in the contract.

A significant portion of the disputes arising from reinsurance contracts stem from differences between the coverage in the insurance contract and the coverage in the reinsurance contract. After determining the applicable law, it is crucial to correctly interpret records in the reinsurance contract such as 'follow the fortunes,' 'follow the settlements,' 'front,' 'claims control clauses,' 'claims cooperation clauses.' In disputes of this nature, it is observed that parties resort to alternative dispute resolution methods, arbitration, and litigation.

In our law firm, services are provided in terms of establishing, revising, and arranging reinsurance contracts from the inception of the contract. Efforts are made to prevent legal disputes, and after the emergence of a dispute, clients are represented in alternative dispute resolution methods, arbitration, and litigation.

Based on our extensive knowledge and experience gained from national and international disputes arising from insurance and reinsurance contracts, which constitute the most important field of practice for our office, we provide high-quality and effective legal services to our clients and consultees in accordance with global standards.