Documents: Turkish to English Turkish → English
Turkish no-claims (hasarsızlık) letter translation
Certified English translation of a Turkish insurer's no-claims letter (hasarsızlık belgesi) with the step (basamak) or discount reached, for UK motor insurers and brokers who accept overseas no-claims history. £10, next working day.
What the receiving body requires
“If you need to certify a translation of a document that's not written in English or Welsh, ask the translation company to confirm in writing on the translation: that it's a ‘true and accurate translation of the original document’; the date of the translation; the full name and contact details of the translator or a representative of the translation company.”
Source:
· checked 29 August 2026What the no-claims letter is
Turkish motor insurers record claim-free driving in two ways. On the compulsory third-party policy (trafik sigortası) the driver's history is expressed as a step (basamak) on a national scale, moving up a step for each claim-free year and down for a paid claim; on comprehensive cover (kasko) it appears as a percentage no-claims discount (hasarsızlık indirimi). The central Insurance Information and Monitoring Centre (Sigorta Bilgi ve Gözetim Merkezi, SBM) holds the record for every plate, and any insurer quoting you can see it.
When you leave Türkiye, your insurer or its agent (acente) writes a letter (hasarsızlık belgesi or hasarsızlık yazısı) giving the policy number, the registration plate (plaka), the chassis number, the period of cover, whether any claim (hasar) was paid, and the step or discount reached. Some insurers print the SBM step table; others simply state a number of claim-free years. We translate the letterhead, the policy table, the plate and chassis numbers exactly as printed, the dates, the stamp and signature, and we add a translator's note that explains the basamak scale in plain terms, so a UK underwriter can read a step number as years without a Turkish colleague.
How UK insurers use it
A UK insurer or broker asks a new customer for proof of no-claims bonus from the previous insurer, generally a letter or renewal notice showing the policyholder's name, the number of claim-free years and the date the last policy ended. Most insurers want that policy to have ended within the last two years. Whether overseas history counts at all is a matter for each insurer's own rules: some accept any country, some only EU and EEA policies, and some none. A certified translation removes the language objection, which is the one most often raised, but it cannot change an insurer's policy on foreign bonus. Our guide to UK car insurance with Turkish no-claims history explains how to ask before you buy, and translations for insurers covers the claims side.
What the translation must contain
Insurers have no statutory wording for translations, and in practice they apply the gov.uk certification standard quoted below: a written confirmation that the translation is true and accurate, the date, and the name and contact details of the translator or company. Our certificate meets it and gives our company address and registry number. Within the text, kasko is rendered as comprehensive motor insurance and trafik sigortası as compulsory third-party motor liability insurance, with the Turkish names in brackets at first mention; hasarsız is rendered as “no claims” and hasar ödenmemiştir as “no claim has been paid”, because the two phrases are not interchangeable to an underwriter.
Where letters fall short
The most common problem is not language but content. A letter about kasko alone does not state the trafik sigortası step, and vice versa; ask the insurer for both, since UK bonus follows the driver rather than the type of cover. A letter in the name of your spouse or your employer earns you nothing, because the bonus belongs to the policyholder. And a letter from the agency rather than the insurer is sometimes questioned; if you can, ask for the insurer's own letterhead. Policy details for your plate can also be queried through the SBM services reached from e-Devlet, and a printout of that page can be translated alongside the letter.
An apostille has no place here. No insurer has asked us for one on a no-claims letter, and there is no state body that would issue it for a private insurer's letter.
Price and turnaround
The letter is one page of well under 1,000 characters, so the certified translation is £10.00 with certification included and no UK VAT. If you send the policy schedule as well, that is a second page. Standard delivery is the next working day; a file received before 11:00 UK time with the fast option comes back the same day, which matters when a quote is about to expire. Insurers accept the PDF by e-mail. A paper copy from Ankara by courier is £30, and we have no UK office for collection.
What you receive
- Translation of the letter with plate, chassis and policy numbers, cover dates and claims history
- Translator's note explaining the basamak step scale and the kasko discount
- Certificate in the gov.uk wording, dated and signed, with our company details
- Certified PDF by e-mail; courier hard copy optional
Frequently asked questions
Will a UK insurer accept Turkish no-claims history?
Some do and some do not, and it is decided by each insurer's own rules rather than by any regulation. Ask before you buy, tell them the letter will come with a certified translation, and get the answer in writing. Brokers who deal with expatriate drivers know which insurers say yes.
How old can the Turkish policy be?
UK insurers usually want the previous policy to have ended within the last two years, sometimes less. If yours ended earlier, the bonus has generally lapsed and the translation will not revive it.
My car in Türkiye was a company car. Does that count?
Normally not, because the policy and the bonus were in the company's name. Some UK insurers accept a letter from the employer confirming that you were the sole named driver and had no claims; if yours does, we translate that letter instead.
The insurer's letter is already in English. Do I need you at all?
No. Several large Turkish insurers issue English letters on request, and those go straight to the UK insurer. If only the stamp or an attached policy schedule is in Turkish, we translate those parts and certify them.
Can you translate the whole kasko policy?
Yes, priced per page of 1,000 characters. A full policy with general conditions is 8 to 15 pages, which is rarely worth it for a bonus claim; the letter and the schedule are what the underwriter reads.