Olicanian CC set about rebuilding their club following pavilion fire

"They are a great example of a club who are diligent with their insurance cover and as a result they were prepared for this awful situation"

Olicanian Cricket Club are a strong cricket club. With three senior men's teams and several junior sides, they had everything going for them.

Heading into the August bank holiday weekend in 2019 the 1st XI had their eyes firmly set on promotion to Division One of the Airedale & Wharfedale Senior Cricket League and morale was high.

However, this positive morale was soon to be decimated. In the early hours of Sunday, August 25 their pavilion was burnt to the ground and with it the club lost most of their ground machinery, all of their contents and all of their history.

Fortunately, the club were covered by Yorkshire based insurance brokers Marshall Wooldridge and their ExtraCover Insurance scheme and sports development manager Mark Dearden was immediately on the case.

"I was alerted early on Sunday morning and went straight over there." Dearden told The Cricketer. "My first job was to assure those at the club that they were insured by us and that they should not worry. I even took them a set of stumps so they had the basic equipment needed to get a game on that afternoon."

^{The aftermath of the blaze}

Neighbouring club Ilkley CC generously offered their ground to host the friendly fixture with a touring side arranged for that day – which Olicanian won – but there are now greater concerns to deal with. With the ever-increasing rebuild costs there was a danger that Olicanian would not receive all the funds they needed and would find themselves having to pay any shortfall.

However, this was not the case. "The club were properly and adequately insured. Their policy reacted in full, they were fully covered and had the right sums insured." Dearden explained.

"They are a great example of a club who are diligent with their insurance cover and as a result they were prepared for this awful situation. I was on the phone to the loss adjuster that day and the following Wednesday they were on site with me as well as the secretary to agree a way forward.

"We very quickly got the claim accepted by the insurer and they made an interim payment of £25,000 to the club. By September 13th we were able to present the club with a cheque and the rebuild process is now fully underway."

With the help of ExtraCover Insurance, Olicanian CC could quickly start the rebuilding process to get their club back on track.

"The architects have been appointed and I have seen some of the plans which look fantastic. They are going to rebuild with standard materials as opposed to wood, which may cost slightly more but will give them peace of mind and protection against another fire.

"By the start of the 2021 season they are hoping to have the pavilion back up and running."

Despite this incident there is plenty to look forward for the Olis.

A week after the fire they defeated Horsforth Hall Park and ultimately pipped them to the second promotion place in Division Two.
Division One and a new pavilion await for Olicanian, a lot to be excited for. They have even placed some the ashes of the old pavilion into an urn to create a memorial trophy.

But it mustn't be forgotten that the club would be in a very different position had they not wisely taken out the correct cover with ExtraCover Insurance.

The importance of protecting your club against the very worst can never be understated.

Contact the dedicated ExtraCover Insurance team if you would like a quote or would like a review of your cricket club insurance

Call free on 0800 289 301 to speak with Mark, Helen or David or email extracover@marswool.com

Click here to visit the ExtraCover Insurance website