Nick Fraser - Playing it with a straight bat

Nick Fraser, junior chairman of the Guiseley Cricket Club, tells PB about the Yorkshire club's insurance needs

Tell us about the club

Guiseley Cricket Club was established over 120 years ago and is one of the founder members of the Aire-Wharfe Cricket League. It comprises three senior and eight junior teams with cricket matches or practices taking place on the ground six or seven days and nights every week.

Have you been adversely affected by the recession and has this changed your insurance requirements?

Every year, we have more than 100 juniors register at the club and at this stage we have not seen any effect from the recession on our ability to attract new or maintain existing members. Guiseley Cricket Club is recognised as being one of the leading clubs in terms of its training and coaching facilities and it has always taken pride in the quality of the product it delivers. We have not cut back on our insurance cover at all and we have no intention of doing so; indeed, we have probably expanded our cover over the last three years.

What insurances do you place and which firms do you place them with?

Our broker Leeds-based Marshall Wooldridge, through an Allianz scheme, insures every aspect of Guiseley CC, including the clubhouse building, its contents, the score-box, the ground machinery, the wicket covers, the artificial nets, the sight screens and all aspects of liability to players and third parties. It is a legal requirement of our affiliation to the English Cricket Board that insurance is in place and that it is more than adequate in respect of our liability cover.

Describe your relationship with your broker

Marshall Wooldridge has handled our insurance for over 20 years to my knowledge but I have only been closely involved in dealing with the broker for the last eight. Our relationship is excellent with all members of the company from the founder of the business - Howard Marshall - to the account executives and, most importantly, the claims staff.

As far as we were concerned, Marshall Wooldridge was the only viable option because it is the embodiment of the type of scheme we wanted; every other policy we have looked at plays second fiddle to the Allianz scheme. It also helped that its head office is only two miles up the road from our club. The service has always been personable and they have been more than happy to attend meetings to discuss our requirements at anti-social times to accommodate some of the trustees of the club who have been unable to make daytime meetings.

Have you made any claims?

During our time with Marshall Wooldridge, we have made several claims. Principally, the claims have been as a result of malicious damage on separate occasions to the clubhouse, the score-box and its contents and the artificial nets.

The claims process has always been handled quickly and efficiently and there has always been someone on hand from either the claims team or one of the directors of the broker to talk to about any issues we might have had. All claims have been paid in accord with our cover.

What would you like to see improved in the insurance sector?

Because we have made several claims in this area, we would like to see reduced excesses for theft and malicious damage claims.