Interest on Bodily Injury and Loss-of-Support Damages: The Paragraphs Added to Code of Obligations Art. 55 by Law No. 7589

In claims for loss of working capacity and loss of support brought by people injured in events such as traffic or work accidents, and by relatives of those who died, the date from which statutory interest starts has been an important point of debate. Law No. 7589, published in the Official Gazette of 31 July 2026 (Art. 18), added two paragraphs to Article 55 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) on this. This article summarises the new rule in general terms and does not replace an assessment of your case.

1. What do the new paragraphs say?

Under the first added paragraph, for losses from reduced or lost working capacity and for losses of persons deprived of a deceased person's support, statutory interest runs:

• on the total compensation calculated for the period in which the earnings of the injured person or supporter are known, from the date of the tort or the event causing the damage;
• on the total compensation calculated for the period in which the earnings are not known, from the date of the judgment.

Under the second paragraph, any amount paid for performance before the evidentiary phase begins is proportionally set off against the compensation determined according to the payment date.

2. What this means in practice

• The injured person's past and future periods are separated: the period in which earnings are known (for example between the accident date and the calculation date) and the unknown period (future losses). Interest starts differently for each.
• Payments made before the evidentiary phase (for example partial payments by an insurer or the liable party) are set off proportionally from the compensation determined according to the payment date. The date, documentation and purpose of performance become important.
• Keep your payments and receipts, showing who paid, on what date and for what purpose.

3. Which events does it apply to?

Under the transitional provision of Law No. 7589, the change applies to torts or damaging events occurring after the change entered into force. For events before the change, the earlier provisions of the article continue to apply. The entry-into-force date and which provision applies to your file must be assessed separately.

4. Other provisions of TCO Art. 55

The earlier paragraphs of the article also matter: losses of support and bodily injury losses are calculated under the Code and the principles of liability law; social security payments that cannot be recovered in whole or part, and payments not intended as performance, cannot be taken into account and cannot be deducted from the loss or compensation. The calculated compensation cannot be increased or reduced on equitable grounds based on its amount.

5. Related articles

For routes in such events, see our articles on work accident compensation and, in Turkish, on traffic accident compensation. To have your documents assessed, you can create an appointment or reach us via the contact page.

This article is for general information only, contains no promise of results and is not legal advice. The current text and transitional provisions should be checked separately.