The UK’s summer of cricket is motoring to a memorable conclusion. When we wrote our preview of the ICC Cricket World Cup back in May, few of us could have imagined the drama that was set to unfold as England prevailed in truly remarkable circumstances to claim their first tournament triumph.
The hero of the hour was Ben Stokes, all-rounder extraordinaire and the one person at Lords’ cricket ground able to retain his composure in the heat of the moment. What’s all the more astonishing is that, in just the past week, the talented Mr Stokes has reached even greater heights, single-handedly rescuing England in the vital third Ashes Test Match against the Australians at Headingley when hope seemed to have packed its bags and headed for the carpark.
Stokes’s performance is being lauded as one of the greatest of all time and, for the first time since England’s memorable 2005 Ashes win, cricket has entered the wider public consciousness once more, making front page news and dominating discussions in pubs, cafes, bars and, of course, around the watercooler.
Indeed, this blog is evidence that even motor insurers can’t help but get in on the conversation. Aside from our love of the game though, we also recognise how important vehicles and machinery are to the world of cricket, and we’ve made it our business to support brokers across the country in meeting the diverse needs of their cricketing clients.
Here are three good reasons why we’re always keen to talk cricket at ERS:
1. Sports grounds
With our Leisure & Recreation product we’re able to help cricket ground owners manage their mixes of vehicles, from small tractors and mowers through to maintenance vehicles and private cars. This even includes the heavy-duty rollers used to flatten the pitch. We’ve had years of experience underwriting multi-vehicle risks and because we understand the game we know to be at our most responsive during the height of the summer when the fixtures start to pile up.
2. Outside broadcasting units
Our Specialist Commercial Vehicles product caters for the vast array of media vehicles that regularly rock up at cricket stadia to broadcast live footage, radio commentary, news reports and much more besides. Some of these vehicles, such as outside broadcasting units, contain a lot of high value, sensitive technology, so it’s vital that they have appropriate cover from an insurer that actually understands what the equipment is used for and why it’s so important.
3. Sports professionals’ vehicles
Sports professionals regularly get penalised by mainstream motor insurers. They’re seen as a higher risk because of their public profile, which means that when they’re dealing with automated online insurers, they’ll always get a red flag simply for typing in their profession.
We developed our Sports & Entertainment product for precisely this reason, giving cricketing professionals a better deal by taking the time to fully understand their circumstances, their public profile, how their vehicle is being used and where it is being stored. In fact, we cover a diverse range of professionals from across the whole of the sports world and the entertainment industry, as well as journalists, media personalities and celebrities. So not only are we giving the cricketers peace of mind that their vehicles are protected; we’re also able to insure large sections of the crowd too!
As all eyes turn to Old Trafford on Wednesday for the Fourth Test, why not give our team a call on to learn more about how ERS can help support a wide range of sporting clients’ motor needs.
