What Is Glass Breakage Insurance?

What the Cover Responds To

Because glass breakage appears as a single line inside home and business packages, it is usually treated as a footnote. It is not: it is a standalone cover with its own wording, the Glass Breakage Insurance General Conditions, in force since 1 January 1976.

Article 1 defines it in one sentence: the insurer indemnifies loss of and damage to the glass and mirrors shown in the policy resulting from breakage. “Shown in the policy” means cover reaches only the scheduled glass, not every glazed surface. “Breakage” means the pane must break; crazing, misting or surface deterioration is not breakage.

Those two phrases explain most of the surprises at claim stage: a glass line on the schedule does not mean every glass incident is paid.

Home Policies Versus Business Policies

The wording is identical in both settings; what differs is the exposure and which panes were scheduled. In a home the cover looks at window glass, balcony and terrace glazing and fixed wall mirrors. Frequency is low, so home packages usually carry glass as a standard line with a small sum insured.

In a business the picture changes. Shop front glass is large and faces the street; when it goes, the cost is not only the pane but the disruption to trade and the loss of security. Business glazing also carries signage, logos or wraps, and article 2(c) is decisive: damage to the ornamentation and lettering on the glass, arising from its breakage, falls outside cover unless otherwise agreed.

So reinstating a branded shop front wrap is not paid automatically alongside the pane. The sum insured must reflect the cost of redoing the graphics as well as the glass, and the point must be written into the policy.

Perils You Can Buy Back by Endorsement

Article 2 is headed “excluded unless otherwise agreed”: cover is shut, but the key exists and the parties can write it in. Each of these five sub-clauses deserves a separate conversation.

• Glass damage from fire, lightning, explosion and from firefighting during a fire — but only where it is not already insured elsewhere (art. 2/a). That proviso stops one loss being claimed twice.
• Damage from construction or alteration work in the building where the glass sits (art. 2/b). Skipping this before a refit leaves the glazing exposed throughout the works.
• Damage to the ornamentation and lettering on the glass caused by its breakage (art. 2/c).
• Damage from strike, lock-out, riot and civil commotion and the action they occasion (art. 2/d).
• Loss from terrorism under Law No. 3713, from sabotage arising out of it and from official intervention (art. 2/e); the contamination losses in article 3(j) stay outside this buy-back.

The Hard Limits of Glass Cover

Article 3 lists what cannot be bought back at all — the shortest route to what glass cover is not.

Sub-clause (d) generates the most argument. A scratch across a shop front, or a chip flaking from the edge, is not a covered loss however unsightly — the wording requires breakage. Sub-clause (b) removes the moment glass is most often damaged: fitting, removal and transit.

Which Policy Pays for a Broken Pane?

A narrow glass cover does not mean broken glass goes unpaid. In most incidents the pane is already protected elsewhere. What decides the answer is not that the glass broke, but what broke it.

Earthquake is the sharpest illustration. Article 3(f) excludes outright any loss to insured glass caused by earthquake, flood, inundation or volcanic eruption. The Earthquake and Volcanic Eruption Clause on a fire policy, by contrast, adds all losses caused directly or indirectly by earthquake.

Burglary works the same way. Clause A.2 of the Theft General Conditions covers the damage caused while entering or opening the premises for the purpose of the theft. Glass smashed by an intruder on the way in is therefore a theft claim.

The third case is vandalism. The Malicious Acts Clause, an add-on to the fire policy, extends cover to direct loss caused by the malicious act of any person other than the insured and the insured’s ascendants and descendants, excluding loss from fire and explosion.

• Accidental breakage → glass breakage cover (Glass GC art. 1).
• Glass smashed by an intruder on entry → theft policy (Theft GC A.2).
• Deliberate act by a third party → fire policy with the Malicious Acts Clause.
• Earthquake → fire policy with the Earthquake Clause, or DASK, Türkiye's compulsory earthquake cover (Glass GC art. 3/f excludes it).
• Fire, lightning, explosion → fire policy; recoverable under the glass policy only by endorsement and only if not insured elsewhere (Glass GC art. 2/a).

What to Do When Glass Breaks

The commonest mistake is to replace the pane immediately and send the invoice afterwards. Article 9 requires the opposite: notify the insurer within five days of learning of the loss, take protective measures as if uninsured, and leave the damaged glass unaltered except where unavoidable.

The same article requires a statement of the estimated loss within a reasonable period, and access for the insurer’s representatives. Under article 10, if the loss increases because these duties were not met, the increase is deducted from the indemnity.

If quantum cannot be agreed, article 11 applies: the amount is set by expert arbitrators (hakem-bilirkişi). Where the opening must be secured at once, photograph the damage before replacement.

Where We Come In as an Agency

RYL Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi is an insurance agency; the policy is issued and the claim is paid by the insurance company we place the business with. On glass, our job is to agree which surfaces go into the schedule, price in the applied graphics on a shop front, and raise the article 2 buy-backs before a refit.

There is also the claim-stage job: routing the incident to the right policy. We regularly see files declined under glass cover that are payable under theft or earthquake cover. If you are unsure what sits on your glass line, let us review the schedule with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• SEDDK — Insurance General Conditions
• Glass Breakage Insurance General Conditions (in force 1 January 1976)
• Fire Clauses
• Theft Insurance General Conditions
• Law No. 6305 on Disaster Insurance — DASK

This article is for information only; the scope of cover is set by the policy’s specific and general terms.