Business Insurance

Business insurance (in Turkish işyeri sigortası) protects commercial premises — a shop, office, café, workshop or warehouse — together with the fixtures, machinery and stock inside, against risks from fire and theft to water damage and glass breakage, in a single policy. It is usually sold as a business package policy: fire is the core cover and other risks are added to the package.

For a business, the real danger is often not the damage itself but the time the business cannot operate afterwards. Rent, salaries and taxes keep running while the premises are closed. A well-built policy protects both your assets and your ability to get back to work.

Anyone running a business from physical premises in Türkiye — including foreign entrepreneurs with a company in Türkiye. The businesses we insure most often:

• Shops, stores and retail outlets
• Offices, consultancies and clinics
• Cafés, restaurants and food businesses
• Workshops and small production sites
• Warehouses and businesses that keep stock, including online sellers
• Car services, spare-parts sellers and car dealers

If you rent your premises: the landlord’s policy usually covers only the building. Your fixtures, your stock and the loss when your business stops are not part of it, so a tenant business needs its own policy.

Cover depends on the insurer and the package you choose. Business policies commonly include:

• Fire, lightning and explosion — the core cover
• Internal water damage (burst or overflowing pipes), flood
• Storm, hail, snow load, vehicle and aircraft impact, smoke
• Earthquake (as an additional cover)
• Strikes, riots, malicious acts and terrorism
• Theft and damage to the building during a burglary
• Glass breakage (shop windows, facade glass, signs)
• Electronic equipment (computers, servers, card terminals, cameras) and machinery breakdown
• Cash in the safe or in transit
• Debris removal costs

When we prepare the quote we show you which covers are in the policy, with which limits and deductibles. Two packages with the same name can differ significantly.

Two risks are often as important as property damage, or more:

• Third-party liability: claims if a customer or visitor is injured at your premises, or if an incident at your premises damages a neighbouring business.
• Employer’s liability: claims you may face as an employer if an employee has a work accident.
• Loss of rent and business interruption: fixed costs and lost profit while your premises are closed after an insured loss such as a fire or flood.

• Additional covers you did not add, and situations listed as exclusions in the policy
• Lack of maintenance, wear and tear and gradual deterioration
• Intentional damage
• The deductible (the part you pay yourself), if your policy has one
• Items that were not declared or have no sum insured in the policy

Exclusions are written in the insurer’s general and special conditions. Before you sign, we go through the ones relevant to your business with you.

A business policy has a separate sum insured for each group of assets:

• Building: the cost of rebuilding (land value is not included)
• Fixtures and fit-out: furniture, shelving, counters, interior decoration
• Machinery and installations used in your work
• Stock: goods for sale, raw materials and semi-finished goods
• Electronic equipment and cash as separate covers

If values are declared below their real value, you are under-insured: in a claim, the payment can be reduced in proportion to the shortfall. If your stock changes during the year, base the declaration on the highest level or arrange this separately in the policy. We work out the sums with you item by item and review them at every renewal.

• The type of business (an office and a workshop carry different risks)
• Construction type, age and location of the building
• The declared values of building, fixtures, machinery and stock
• Security measures such as alarms, cameras, shutters and fire extinguishers
• Additional covers, limits and the deductible you choose
• Previous claims

You see the exact premium in the quotes we prepare for your business from several insurers.

Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) can cover units used as offices or shops in residential buildings, but it only covers structural damage to the building up to its limit. Earthquake cover for your fixtures, machinery and stock comes from the earthquake cover added to your business policy.

• Company name and tax number, and the type of business
• Full address of the premises, floor area and construction type of the building
• The values you want to declare for the building (if you own it), fixtures, machinery and stock
• Security measures (alarm, cameras, shutters, extinguishers)
• Number of employees, if employer’s liability is needed
• Your current policy and its expiry date, if any

We explain the policy and its conditions in English, so you know exactly what you are signing.

Our office is inside the Maslak Atatürk Auto Industrial Estate. We prepare policies for different businesses, from services and workshops on the estate to offices and shops in Maslak, Ayazağa and Sarıyer, and for businesses across Istanbul by phone and WhatsApp. You can keep your business policy together with your kasko and traffic insurance in one place, and we track the renewal dates for you. Detailed information in Turkish is on our Turkish business insurance page.