Objectives of Ethical Principles
The objective of the Ethical Principles of the Association of the Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies of Turkey is to set forth the ethical principles to be followed by insurance,reinsurance and pension companies in their relations with each other and with their clients, employees and public bodies and to enhance existing public confidence towards the sector within this framework.
I. General Principles
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall respect the below mentioned ethical principles in their activities and operations;
Integrity
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be committed to the principle of integrity principle in their activities.
Neutrality
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall avoid any discrimination between and bias against their employees and clients.
Reliability
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall provide their clients open, comprehensible and accurate information in adherence to mutual confidence and deliver services in a timely and complete manner.
Transparency
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall adhere to simplicity and lucidity in informing their clients and uphold the maximum possible level of transparency in their activities.
Respect for Human Rights
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall respect human rights in all their activities with the understanding that human rights are as a prerequisite for a sustainable society.
Social Responsibility
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be committed to supporting social and cultural activities.
Respect to Environment
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be committed to the preservation of the environment and natural resources in all their activities.
II. Intercompany Relations
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall respect the below mentioned principles in their relations with each other;
Exchange of Information
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be engaged in an honest and systematic exchange of information amongst themselves on the condition that this is in accordance with legislative provisions and without violating confidential information of clients.
Employment and Insurance Intermediaries
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall avoid any practices that may lead to unfair competition in staff employment and in relations with insurance intermediaries.
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be objective in providing information required by other insurance, reinsurance, pension companies about former employees and insurance intermediaries.
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall provide information about the unethical behaviours of former employees to companies requesting information in the employment process.
Competition
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall try to make sure that a healthy and constructive competitive environment is built and they avoid any practices that create unfair competition.
They shall avoid disclosure of confidential information about other companies unless companies consent to the disclosure; they also take preventive measures to make sure that employees transferring from one company to the other do not use the internal and external connections they obtained in their former company against this former company.
Announcements, Notices and Advertisements
In their announcements of financial situation and notices and advertisements relating to the presentation and marketing of insurance products and services, Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall behave in accordance with public morality, in an honest and realistic manner and shall avoid any behaviour that might be detrimental to professional integrity.
In their announcements, notices and advertisements, they shall avoid any statements or expressions discrediting the products and services of other companies.
III. Relations with Customers
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall respect the below mentioned principles in their customer relations;
Informing Customers
Before and during the implementation of the insurance contract, Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall provide timely and accurate information concerning their products and services and avoid any misleading or inadequate information.
They shall recommend the most suitable products that meet customer needs and provide information to the customers on the advantages and disadvantages of these products in comparison with other products.
Customer Confidentiality and Security
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall avoid disclosure of confidential information and documents relating to customers except for information and documents which shall be legally provided to authorized people and authorities; information that is shared under the relevant legislation and in cases where customers have express consent.
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall take necessary measures to ensure the security of operation and avoid customer aggrievance.
Avoiding Discrimination, Service Quality
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies provide the same quality of service to all customers avoiding any particular discrimination.
They perform any infrastructural activities to enhance service quality.
Setting the target market, differentiating product range and organizational structure in accordance with the public audience or following different approaches towards risky categories of customers shall not be interpreted as discrimination between customers.
Customer Complaints
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall constitute an in-house structure or shall be involved within a structure that provides sectoral services to analyze, assess and conclude customer complaints.
They shall also take precautions to correct inaccurate practices and avoid their recurrence.
IV. Relations with Employees and Insurance Intermediaries
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall respect the below mentioned ethical principles in their relations with employees and insurance intermediaries
General Qualifications of Employees and Insurance Intermediaries
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall ensure that employees and intermediaries work in such a way to observe the integrity of the profession in society and are people possessing the necessary professional knowledge and responsibility.
Recruitment and Career Development
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall provide equal opportunities to everyone and avoid any discrimination based on nationality, religion and gender in recruitment and career development.
Following the principle of providing the best guidance to human resources, Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall support activities like training, courses, seminars and other similar facilities aimed at enhancing their employees’ and intermediaries’ level of knowledge necessitated by the insurance profession.
In assessing their employees’ performance and occupational promotion, Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall take into consideration their employees’ commitment to insurance ethical principles and the diligence they bestow in the implementation of the mentioned principles.
Principles of Presentation and Working Environment
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall be committed to the principle of integrity principle in their activities.
They shall seek to create a healthy and safe working environment for employees, take measures to enhance their motivation and ensure that they provide services in better conditions.
They shall employ adequate number of employees in accordance with workload, ensure that within working hours the maximum level of performance is attained, employees have regular holidays and overtime work is avoided.
They shall adopt internal measures to prevent employees to enter into unethical relations with clients, to take gifts from existing or potential clients and to gain interests through the use of either their own working environment or their clients’ work opportunities.
They shall ensure that employee rights arising from legal provisions are provided on time an in full.
V. Relations with Public Institutions and Organizations
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies shall act in accordance with the principles of honesty and transparency in their relations with public institutions and organizations and they shall ensure that information, documents and registers required by law for purposes of supervision and control are provided in full and on time.
VI. Development of Ethical Principles in Insurance
Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Companies are always welcome to submit to the Association of the Insurance ,Reinsurance and Pension Companies of Turkey their suggestions regarding the development of ethical principles and making necessary modifications where necessary.