Insurance chief sees room for wider cover in North Cyprus

North Cyprus’s insurance market has increased its premium production but has yet to match the potential suggested by the number of residents, vehicles and homes, according to Zirve Sigorta general manager Ahmet Çukurovalı.

Speaking to Yeniduzen, Çukurovalı estimated the population at about 476,000, with more than 416,000 registered vehicles and roughly 190,000 homes. He said around 336,000 vehicles held compulsory traffic insurance, while noting that some registered vehicles may no longer be in use.

He said insurers issued approximately 565,000 policies in the first nine months of 2024, generating about TL 2.94 billion in premiums. Motor and traffic insurance accounted for most policy production, he said.

Çukurovalı pointed to comparatively limited coverage outside compulsory products. He said the combined total for commercial, fire and housing policies was 29,696, against about 191,500 residential electricity meters. As that policy figure also includes non-residential cover, he said housing-insurance uptake was likely lower than the total suggests.

He identified comprehensive motor cover, housing insurance and private health insurance as areas with scope for growth. In his assessment, the constraint was not the availability of assets to insure, but a market culture in which customers predominantly buy insurance when it is legally required.