Can Foreign Vehicle Owners Claim Compensation for Loss of Use After a Traffic Accident in Turkey? (2026 Updated Guide)

Can a foreign vehicle owner claim compensation when a car cannot be used after an accident in Turkey? Learn about reasonable repair time, replacement vehicle costs, foreign-plated vehicles, evidence, liable parties and compensation claims.

A foreign vehicle owner involved in a traffic accident in Turkey may suffer considerably more than the physical repair cost of the vehicle. If the damaged vehicle cannot be used while repairs are being completed, the owner may also suffer loss of use, commonly calculated by reference to the reasonable period during which the vehicle was unavailable and the cost associated with obtaining a comparable replacement vehicle. Turkish judicial practice recognizes vehicle-deprivation loss as a recoverable category of material damage where its legal requirements are satisfied. Recent decisions continue to calculate this loss principally by examining the reasonable repair period and the cost of obtaining a vehicle with comparable characteristics.

The fact that the damaged vehicle carries foreign registration plates does not, by itself, eliminate the owner’s ability to pursue a compensation claim arising from an accident in Turkey. Indeed, recent Turkish litigation includes claims involving foreign-plated vehicles for repair costs, depreciation and replacement-vehicle expenses.

What Is Loss of Use Compensation?

Loss of use compensation concerns the economic disadvantage resulting from being deprived of a damaged vehicle for the period reasonably necessary to repair or replace it.

It should be distinguished from the physical repair cost and from diminished value.

A single traffic accident may therefore generate several different heads of damage: repair costs, diminished value, loss of use or replacement-vehicle costs, towing or other necessary expenses and, depending on the circumstances, additional proven losses.

Can a Foreign Vehicle Owner Claim Loss of Use in Turkey?

Potentially, yes. The nationality of the vehicle owner or foreign registration of the vehicle does not automatically prevent a claim.

The important questions are generally whether the accident created legal liability, the claimant suffered compensable damage, the claimed period of deprivation was reasonable and the amount can be established.

A 2026 appellate decision specifically concerned a collision in Turkey involving a foreign-plated vehicle and included a claim for replacement-vehicle expenses alongside repair and diminished-value claims.

Is Actual Car Rental Always Necessary?

A central issue is whether the claimant must actually rent another vehicle and produce a rental invoice.

Turkish case law approaches vehicle-deprivation damage as the loss arising from being unable to use the vehicle for the reasonable repair period. Courts commonly determine the reasonable repair period and the amount required to obtain a comparable vehicle during that period.

Accordingly, the calculation should not automatically be reduced to the existence or absence of a particular rental invoice. The factual circumstances and evidence should nevertheless be prepared carefully.

How Is Loss of Use Calculated?

A typical calculation examines two principal elements: reasonable repair time and reasonable replacement-vehicle cost.

The calculation should be based on the period objectively necessary to repair the accident damage rather than every calendar day during which the vehicle happened to remain at a repair shop.

What Is a “Reasonable Repair Period”?

Reasonable repair time is the period technically required to restore the vehicle following the accident.

For example, if a repair could objectively be completed in ten days, a claimant may encounter difficulty attempting to recover compensation for forty days merely because the workshop delayed the repair for unrelated reasons.

An automotive expert may therefore need to determine the technically reasonable repair period.

Foreign Vehicles Can Create Special Repair Issues

Foreign-plated vehicles may present additional practical difficulties. Replacement parts may need to be sourced abroad, manufacturer-authorized repairs may be performed in the vehicle’s country of registration, or specialized technical procedures may be required.

However, every additional day should not automatically be attributed to the liable party. The claimant should demonstrate why additional time was reasonably connected with the accident and repair process.

What If the Vehicle Is Repaired Outside Turkey?

This is particularly relevant for tourists, expatriates and foreign residents driving vehicles registered abroad.

Returning the damaged vehicle to its country of registration does not necessarily eliminate the compensation claim. Recent Turkish proceedings involving foreign vehicles have included foreign repair assessments and Euro-denominated claims.

The claimant should preserve the foreign repair estimate, final invoice, expert report, photographs, payment evidence and documentation explaining the repair period.

Can the Claim Be Calculated in Euros?

Foreign vehicle disputes may involve expenses denominated in Euros or another foreign currency. Recent Turkish cases involving foreign-plated vehicles demonstrate that claimants have pursued Euro-denominated accident losses and requested conversion under the applicable foreign-currency rules.

Whether a particular loss should ultimately be awarded in foreign currency or Turkish lira depends on the legal and factual structure of the individual claim.

What Type of Replacement Vehicle Is Used for Calculation?

The comparison should generally involve a vehicle with characteristics reasonably comparable to the damaged vehicle.

A claimant whose ordinary vehicle is a standard passenger car should not ordinarily calculate the entire loss using an unrelated luxury rental vehicle.

Likewise, a premium or specialized vehicle should not automatically be valued using the cheapest available economy car if that would fail to reflect the actual deprivation.

Are Saved Expenses Deducted?

Potentially. Judicial calculations may account for expenses that the vehicle owner did not incur while the damaged vehicle was unavailable. Recent case law refers to determining reasonable repair time and comparable rental cost while considering relevant savings.

The objective is compensation for actual loss rather than creating an economic gain from the accident.

What If the Vehicle Is a Total Loss?

Loss of use is not necessarily limited to repairable vehicles.

Where repair is economically unreasonable and the vehicle is treated as a total loss, Turkish case law recognizes that deprivation may instead be assessed by reference to the reasonable period required to obtain a replacement vehicle with similar characteristics.

The claimant cannot normally extend this period indefinitely by delaying the purchase of another vehicle.

Who Can Be Responsible for Loss of Use?

Depending on the accident, potential defendants may include the at-fault driver and the vehicle operator or owner under the applicable liability rules.

The position of the compulsory motor liability insurer should be examined separately because insurance coverage for individual heads of damage must be distinguished from the underlying tort liability of the driver and operator.

Do Not Assume Every Loss Is Covered by Compulsory Traffic Insurance

One of the most important practical distinctions concerns who owes the particular category of compensation.

A foreign vehicle owner should separately analyze claims against the driver, vehicle operator or owner and claims potentially falling within the scope of an insurance policy.

Loss of use should not simply be added to an insurer demand without examining the applicable policy and legal coverage.

What If the Claimant Has Comprehensive Insurance?

If the claimant’s own insurer provides a replacement vehicle, that benefit can affect the remaining uncompensated loss.

A recent decision, for example, calculated a reasonable deprivation period but reduced the recoverable period because the claimant’s own insurer had already provided a replacement vehicle for part of that time.

Double recovery for the same loss should therefore be avoided.

Can a Tourist Claim Compensation?

Potentially, yes.

A foreign tourist who loses use of a vehicle after an accident in Turkey may have a compensable claim if the requirements are established. The fact that the owner normally resides outside Turkey does not automatically eliminate the damage.

Evidence becomes particularly important because the claimant may leave Turkey before the repair or litigation process is completed.

What Documents Should Foreign Vehicle Owners Preserve?

The claimant should preserve the accident report, photographs and videos, foreign vehicle registration, repair estimate, repair invoice, expert assessment, workshop entry and release dates, parts-order records, correspondence concerning delays, rental quotations or invoices, proof of replacement transportation and evidence of payments.

For a foreign-plated vehicle, documents demonstrating the vehicle’s make, model, age, mileage and country of registration can also be important.

Obtain an Expert Report Early

Loss-of-use disputes frequently require technical assessment.

An expert may need to determine the accident-related repairs, reasonable repair duration, comparable vehicle category and reasonable daily replacement cost.

Recent Turkish decisions emphasize that calculating vehicle-deprivation loss requires technical findings concerning the reasonable repair period and comparable rental cost.

Do Not Confuse Actual Workshop Time With Reasonable Repair Time

Suppose a vehicle remains in a workshop for thirty days, but an expert determines that the actual accident repair should have taken twelve days.

The recoverable deprivation period may be assessed according to the reasonable technical repair period rather than the entire thirty days.

For that reason, evidence explaining parts delays or specialized repair requirements can be particularly important for foreign vehicles.

What If Replacement Parts Must Come From Abroad?

This can strengthen an argument for a longer reasonable repair period if the parts delay was genuinely necessary and adequately documented.

Keep manufacturer communications, parts orders, shipping records and workshop correspondence.

A generalized assertion that “foreign cars take longer to repair” is substantially weaker than evidence showing exactly when the necessary component was ordered, shipped and installed.

Can Business Vehicles Claim Higher Losses?

A commercial vehicle may generate a different loss profile.

Where the damaged vehicle generates income—for example, through transport or another commercial activity—the claimant may attempt to establish business losses resulting from its unavailability.

However, lost-profit claims generally require stronger evidence of actual financial loss and causation than an ordinary replacement-vehicle calculation.

Mitigation of Loss Matters

A claimant should take reasonable measures to prevent unnecessary expansion of the damage.

Unexplained repair delays, failure to authorize repairs, unreasonable choice of workshop or avoidable storage can become disputed.

Foreign owners should therefore document why particular repair decisions were reasonable.

Does the Owner Need to Be the Driver?

Not necessarily.

Ownership-based financial loss and driving the vehicle at the time of the accident are separate issues. Recent Yargıtay reasoning also confirms in a related context that the vehicle owner’s licensing position should not automatically defeat a deprivation claim where it did not constitute accident-causing fault.

What If the Foreign Owner Does Not Have a Turkish Driving Licence?

This should not automatically determine liability for loss-of-use compensation.

The actual cause of the accident and the claimant’s legally relevant fault must be examined. Yargıtay has held that absence of a valid driving licence, by itself, cannot simply be treated as accident-causing driving fault or as breaking causation where the claimant committed no driving violation causing the collision.

Comparative Fault Can Reduce Compensation

If the foreign vehicle’s driver contributed to the accident, compensation may be reduced according to the legally determined fault allocation.

A proper accident reconstruction and fault assessment can therefore be as important as calculating the deprivation amount.

Can Loss of Use Be Claimed Together With Diminished Value?

Potentially, yes. They represent different forms of damage.

Diminished value concerns the reduction in the vehicle’s market value after accident repairs, while loss of use concerns deprivation of the vehicle during the relevant period.

Turkish court proceedings regularly contain both categories of claim.

Repair Costs Can Also Be Claimed Separately

Physical damage to the vehicle is another separate head of loss.

A foreign owner may therefore need to construct the claim under several headings rather than presenting one global figure.

Foreign Expert Reports Should Be Detailed

If the vehicle is inspected in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium or another country, the report should clearly identify the vehicle, accident damage, required repair operations, labor, parts and estimated repair time.

The more transparent the calculation, the easier it is to compare the foreign assessment with evidence obtained in Turkey.

Translation and Evidentiary Preparation

Foreign invoices, expert reports and repair records may require appropriate translation and procedural preparation for use in Turkish proceedings.

Do not wait until the hearing stage to organize these documents.

Preserve Evidence Before Repair

Take detailed photographs of the damaged vehicle before repair.

Where the extent of damage or reasonable repair duration is likely to be disputed, early technical evidence can prevent later arguments that the claimant cannot prove what repairs were genuinely necessary.

What If the Other Side Offers a Small Settlement?

The foreign vehicle owner should determine whether the offer covers only physical damage or also purports to settle diminished value and loss of use.

Settlement and release documents should be reviewed carefully before signature.

Limitation Periods Should Be Protected

Traffic-accident claims are subject to statutory time limits, and the applicable period can depend on the legal nature and circumstances of the claim.

A foreign owner should not assume that returning home suspends or extends Turkish procedural deadlines.

Practical Calculation Example

Assume a foreign-plated vehicle is damaged in Turkey and a technical expert determines that the reasonable repair period is 12 days. If the reasonable cost of obtaining a comparable replacement vehicle is established at EUR 90 per day, the starting calculation would be EUR 1,080.

Adjustments may then become necessary for contributory fault, replacement transportation already supplied, expenses saved while the damaged vehicle was unavailable or other case-specific circumstances.

2026 Position for Foreign-Plated Vehicles

Recent Turkish judicial materials continue to demonstrate both the recognition of vehicle-deprivation damages generally and litigation specifically involving foreign-plated vehicles seeking replacement-vehicle compensation after accidents in Turkey.

For foreign owners, the principal challenge is therefore often not nationality but evidence: proving the reasonable repair period, appropriate comparable vehicle cost, accident-related causation and the identity of the legally responsible parties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a foreign-plated vehicle owner claim loss-of-use compensation in Turkey?

Potentially, yes. Foreign registration does not by itself eliminate a claim arising from a traffic accident in Turkey. Recent proceedings include foreign-plated vehicles pursuing replacement-vehicle losses.

Must the owner actually rent another car?

Not necessarily in every case. Turkish judicial calculations focus on the reasonable repair period and the reasonable cost of obtaining a comparable replacement vehicle.

How many days can be claimed?

Generally, the technically reasonable repair period is central, rather than every day the vehicle happens to remain at the workshop.

Can a foreign repair report be used?

Potentially. Its evidentiary value will depend on its content and procedural presentation. Detailed repair and expert documentation should be preserved.

Can compensation be requested in Euros?

Foreign-vehicle cases have included Euro-denominated claims, although the proper currency and payment methodology must be determined according to the circumstances of the particular claim.

Can loss of use and diminished value be claimed together?

Potentially, yes. They concern different types of economic damage.

What happens if the vehicle is totaled?

The relevant deprivation period may instead be assessed according to the reasonable time necessary to obtain a comparable replacement vehicle.

What if the claimant’s insurer provided a replacement car?

Any period already compensated through a replacement vehicle can affect the remaining recoverable loss and should be disclosed.

Can the at-fault driver’s insurer always be required to pay loss of use?

Insurance coverage and the underlying liability of the driver or vehicle operator should be analyzed separately. The applicable policy and current legal framework must be examined for the specific claim.

What should a foreign vehicle owner do immediately?

Document the accident and damage, preserve repair and foreign expert records, establish the technically reasonable repair period, obtain evidence of comparable replacement-vehicle costs and identify separately which losses can be pursued against the driver, vehicle operator and relevant insurer.

Client-Focused Legal Support for Foreign Vehicle Accident Claims in Turkey

Fırat Fesih Kaya Law Office assists foreign vehicle owners, tourists, expatriates and international companies with traffic-accident compensation claims in Turkey. Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya provides legal assistance concerning vehicle repair costs, diminished value, loss-of-use and replacement-vehicle claims, foreign expert reports, insurer disputes and compensation proceedings involving foreign-plated vehicles.

Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
Mobile: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr
Address: Mevlana Boulevard No:221, Yıldırım Tower, Office No:148, 06520 Balgat, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey