Court of Cassation: Consumer court to hear vehicle damage record case

The 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled that a consumer court has jurisdiction over a vehicle owner's lawsuit seeking the deletion of an accident record entered into the Insurance Fraud Information Sharing System. The ruling was published in the Official Gazette.

The 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled that consumer courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits filed against insurance companies seeking the deletion of vehicle damage records. The decision to overturn the ruling in the interests of law was published in the Official Gazette.

In the case, a vehicle owner discovered in 2019 that an accident report stating that the vehicle had been involved in a crash in 2010 had been entered into the Insurance Fraud Information Sharing System (SİSBİS). The owner said the vehicle had not been involved in an accident and repeatedly applied to the insurance company to have the record deleted. After receiving no result, the owner filed a lawsuit at the Istanbul Anatolian 7th Commercial Court of First Instance.

Facade of the Court of Cassation building

The lower court accepted the lawsuit and ordered the deletion of the SİSBİS record, noting that the vehicle owner's signature was not on the report, another person's name was listed as the driver, and there was no photograph of the vehicle after the accident. After the ruling became final, the Ministry of Justice sought its reversal in the interests of law, arguing that there had been a legal violation concerning the competent court.

The Court of Cassation overturned the ruling without affecting the outcome. The chamber stated that the insurance company was a service provider and the vehicle owner was a consumer, and therefore, under Article 73 of the Consumer Protection Law, consumer courts had jurisdiction to hear the case.