The Legal Nature of Vehicle Depreciation and Compensation
VEHICLE Depreciation
Vehicle depreciation under the provisions of tort due to the sudden decrease or loss of the vehicle’s value previously. accident.(Balcı-Tokbaş-Demirbag, ”Sorula Vehicle Depreciation”, p.12)
Other words, even if the vehicle damaged as a result of the accident is completely repaired, the value of the vehicle in a repaired condition will be lower than the value of another vehicle with the same characteristics and undamaged, since there will be no damage to the vehicle. it bears the marks of repair. In practice, this current value difference is called ‘vehicle depreciation’.
In the decisions of the Court of Cassation, it is emphasized that even if the vehicle involved in the accident is completely repaired, the barter (fair value) value will also increase after the repair, since the vehicle involved in the accident will bear the traces of damage. it should be less than the exchange value before the incident and the value of the vehicle in the repaired state should be compensated, no matter how well the vehicle is repaired, as a rule it will be lower than the value of the same vehicle. of unspoiled quality at all.(Supreme Court 4. HD. 2002/130 E. 2002/4512 K.)
LEGAL QUALIFICATION
Although ‘loss of value’ is not specifically regulated in our laws, 91 of the Highway Traffic Law No. 2918. in the article; “Compensation within the scope of compulsory financial liability insurance is subject to the procedures and principles provided for in this Law and the general conditions prepared within the framework of this Law. The provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations dated 11.01.2011 and numbered 6098 on torts are applied to matters not regulated in this Law, as well as general conditions related to such compensation and non-pecuniary compensation.”
Therefore, the loss of vehicle value will be claimed in accordance with the provisions on compensation for damages arising from torts entitled ‘Debt relations arising from torts’ regulated in Article 49 of the Turkish Code of Obligations. According to this article; “Whoever harms someone else with an imperfect and unlawful act, he is obliged to compensate for this damage.” If we apply the said item to the depreciation of the vehicle, an accident must have occurred, the depreciation of the vehicle must have occurred as a result of the accident, and there must be a link of Decrement between the depreciation and the accident.
When calculating the loss of value, if there is no damage to the vehicle to be sued before the date of the accident, the accident-free market value of the vehicle should be determined and, accordingly, the difference between its damaged condition and Decapitation should be considered a loss of value.(Supreme Court 17. HD. 2014/15955 E. 2014/13034 K.) In addition, in calculating the loss of value, the model, brand, characteristics, damage, repair operations, mode of use, mileage and age of the vehicle at the date of the incident are taken into account by the court together with the defendant’s claims and defenses. Sides.(Supreme Court 17. HD. 2015/11245 E. 2016/1045 K.)
On the other hand, since the loss of value of the vehicle is within the scope of actual damage, it will be possible to base the compensation on the defect rate and the payer will be able to claim the defect as the reason for getting rid of liability. For this reason, the person who is defective or less defective in the occurrence of the accident will be relieved of liability if he proves his claim and/ or may request a discount at the rate of his defect. . Otherwise, you will not be able to get rid of the responsibility.
THE PERT CASE
At this stage, it may be confusing whether a loss of vehicle value can be claimed in the event of ‘full damage’. The term ‘complete loss’ is used for vehicles that have suffered severe or complete damage. A vehicle that has been damaged as a result of an accident and the repair cost exceeds the vehicle’s value at the risk date or does not accept repair will be considered full damage. In case the vehicle is scrapped, the loss of value claim will not be accepted; instead, the total (scrap) value of the vehicle will have to be paid. Since it will not be possible for the vehicle owner to put the vehicle up for sale or sell it at a price below its fair value, it will also not be possible to claim compensation in the form of ‘vehicle depreciation’. In this case, the car insurance company will pay the damaged vehicle owner the current market value of the total vehicle as compensation.(Supreme Court 17. HD. 2016/2020 E . 2016/5739 K.)
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