Traffic Insurance vs. Kasko: Which One Is Mandatory?
"I have traffic insurance, do I need Kasko too?" is one of the questions vehicle owners confuse most often — because both carry the word "insurance," but their legal basis, coverage, and the party they pay out to are completely different. One is mandated by law and pays for the other party's damage in an accident; the other is a fully optional contract that covers damage to your own vehicle. In this article we compare the two types of insurance side by side — their legal basis, what they do and don't cover, and which one you actually need and when.
Mandatory traffic insurance: third-party liability coverage
The official name of mandatory traffic insurance is Karayolları Motorlu Araçlar Zorunlu Mali Sorumluluk Sigortası (Compulsory Motor Vehicles Third-Party Liability Insurance), and its legal basis is Article 91 of Law No. 2918 on Highway Traffic (Karayolları Trafik Kanunu, KTK): "Operators are required to take out liability insurance to cover their liability under the first paragraph of Article 85 of this Law" (mevzuat.gov.tr). The same article also provides that vehicles without valid coverage will be barred from traffic, and that an administrative fine will be applied to those who fail to comply (mevzuat.gov.tr) — since the current fine amount is updated every year by the annual revaluation rate, you should check the official tariff in effect at the time for the exact figure.
The scope of this insurance is clearly drawn in the General Conditions for Compulsory Motor Vehicles Third-Party Liability Insurance (Karayolları Motorlu Araçlar Zorunlu Mali Sorumluluk Sigortası Genel Şartları): the insurer covers the insured's legal liability arising from the death, injury, or property damage of third parties while operating the vehicle, within the coverage limits stated in the policy (mevzuat.gov.tr). The mirror image of this is also spelled out explicitly in the same General Conditions: "Claims arising from damage to the insured's own vehicle, or to any trailers, semi-trailers, or towed vehicles connected to it" are excluded from coverage (mevzuat.gov.tr). In other words, this policy does not cover damage to your own vehicle even if you were at fault in the accident — it only pays for the damage you caused to the other party. The regulatory and supervisory authority for the insurance sector is likewise defined in these same General Conditions: the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency (Sigortacılık ve Özel Emeklilik Düzenleme ve Denetleme Kurumu), abbreviated SEDDK (mevzuat.gov.tr).
Kasko: optional protection for your own vehicle
Kasko, by contrast, rests on a different legal footing. Unlike traffic insurance, there is no law provision that makes Kasko mandatory; Kasko is a contract freely entered into between the insurance company and the insured, and within the sector's own regulatory framework it is classified not under "Liability Insurance" but under "Property Insurance" (Mal Sigortaları) (SEDDK). Under the General Conditions for Land Vehicles Kasko Insurance (Kara Araçları Kasko Sigortası Genel Şartları), this insurance covers the direct material damage the insured suffers when the vehicle named in the policy collides with another vehicle on the road, strikes a fixed or moving object, overturns, catches fire, or is stolen (or an attempt is made to steal the vehicle or its parts) (TSB). Risks such as earthquake, flood, storm, terrorism, and strikes/lockouts can also be added to the coverage via a supplementary agreement (TSB). The market sells products at different coverage tiers — narrow Kasko, standard Kasko, extended Kasko, and full Kasko — and which coverages are included is always specified separately on the policy itself (TSB). We covered how the premium is set and the factors that affect price, specifically for traffic insurance, in detail in our Traffic insurance prices 2026 article; the Kasko premium, on the other hand, is set freely by the insurance company's own risk assessment and is not subject to a tariff. We covered Kasko's coverage, types, and how its price is determined in detail on our Kasko guide page.
Comparison table
| Criterion | Mandatory traffic insurance | Kasko | | --- | --- | --- | | Mandatory? | Required by law (KTK Art. 91) | Optional, contract-based | | Who gets paid | The other party (third party) | Your own vehicle | | Damage covered | The other party's death, injury, property damage | Your own vehicle's collision, fire, theft, etc. damage | | Natural disaster / terrorism | Not covered | Can be added via supplementary agreement | | Effect on inspection | A vehicle without a policy is not admitted to inspection | Not an inspection requirement | | If not taken out | Administrative fine + barred from traffic | No legal sanction of any kind |
The difference on the inspection side is concrete: the TÜVTÜRK (Turkey's official vehicle-inspection operator) station electronically queries the vehicle's traffic insurance status from the Insurance Information and Monitoring Center (Sigorta Bilgi ve Gözetim Merkezi, SBM) records, and will not start the process if the policy is invalid; the Kasko policy is not part of this query (Documents required for vehicle inspection).
Which one do you need — should you have both?
There's no choice to make on traffic insurance: nearly every motor vehicle that goes on the road must carry it, and failing to do so creates problems both in terms of fines and vehicle inspection. Kasko, on the other hand, is a matter of preference, and the real question isn't "is it required" but "is it worth taking on the risk yourself." If your vehicle's market value is high, if it was purchased through a loan or lease (banks commonly require Kasko for this kind of financing), or if you simply don't want to pay the repair cost of your own vehicle out of pocket after an accident even when you weren't at fault, Kasko is the way to transfer that risk to the insurance company. Together, the two form complete protection covering both sides of an accident: traffic insurance secures the other party, Kasko secures your own vehicle.
Common misconceptions
"I have traffic insurance, so if there's an accident my car will still get repaired." Wrong — traffic insurance only covers the other party's damage; if you're at fault, or in a single-vehicle accident, your traffic insurance will not pay for damage to your own vehicle, because the General Conditions explicitly exclude this from coverage (mevzuat.gov.tr).
"Will I get fined if I don't get Kasko?" No — there is no law provision that makes Kasko mandatory, so there is no administrative fine for not having it either; a fine only applies to the absence of mandatory traffic insurance (mevzuat.gov.tr).
"I have Kasko, so I don't need traffic insurance." This is also wrong: Kasko does not replace traffic insurance — they are separate contracts, and only traffic insurance is checked at vehicle inspection. Even if you have Kasko, your vehicle will not be admitted to inspection if your traffic insurance is missing or has expired.
We explained how to check the current status of both of your policies via SBM and e-Devlet (e-Government) in our Traffic insurance lookup article, and how to avoid missing your policy's expiration date in our When is traffic insurance renewed? article. For a general overview of the topic, you can check out our Mandatory Traffic Insurance Guide page.