SAXELBY WOULD SWAP INSURANCE PAYMENT FOR LONGER CRICKET CAREER Former Gloucestershire seamer Ian Saxelby says that he would happily swap the £ 60,000 lump sum payment insurance he has just received for the early end to his cricket career for another 10 years in the game. Saxelby was forced to retire at the age of 25 in June 2014 by a knee injury that he sustained playing against Surrey two months earlier and he is now working for Lockton, a leading firm of insurance brokers, in their Chepstow office. Saxelby was wise enough to ensure that he had covered himself for the eventuality of a career-ending injury by taking out a permanent disablement insurance policy through the PCA and his claim has just been settled by the insurers. A cheque for £ 60,000, the highest amount that can be paid for a 25 year old player under the policy, has just been paid to Saxelby. The payment will make life a little more comfortable for Saxelby and his wife Gemma as they settle into a new house and prepare for the birth of a child in two months’ time but will not adequately compensate Saxelby for the loss of his cricket career. ” I know other players who have put in for this claim and been unsuccessful so in that respect I see myself as being relatively lucky,” Saxelby said. ” On the same hand, I have been extremely unlucky with the injuries I sustained throughout my career. If I was able to give it all back and be able to play again I would jump at the chance to be able to play until I am 35. ” I don’t see the lump sum as a replacement for the game. It’s just there and it allows me to build a future going forward.” Saxelby helped to soften the blow of having his playing career cut short by having a Personal Development Programme which included studying for a mathematics degree with the Open University, working in Gloucestershire’s marketing department and gaining valuable work experience with companies in Bristol. But his experience emphasises the importance of professional cricketers take out adequate insurance cover to ensure that they are protected in case injury forces them to seek a career away from playing. ” Yes, I have managed to land on my feet in my career. I had a good path set out by having a maths degree but do players feel that the £ 60,000 payable in my age bracket is enough to sustain themselves and their family if this were to happen to them?” Saxelby said. ” I have managed to find myself a job through the preparation I did by doing a maths degree, going into industry and working with Gloucestershire’s marketing department etc. ” I now feel as though I am back on my feet. I have just bought a house, my wife is pregnant and due to give birth in two months’ time. ” The transition away from cricket has been Ok for me. But that is a result of the work that has been done to make sure that was the case. ” This insurance payment was never a guarantee for me. Without it things would have been tight, but we had managed or finances to make sure that we were going to be Ok. ” This top-up makes it comfortable for us and it is going to help us. But my finances were never planned for this to come in.” Jason Ratcliffe, Assistant Chief Executive of the PCA, said: ” Despite the extreme disappointment of losing a promising career to injury, Ian has benefitted from two insurance policies, ours and income protection linked to the ECB Pension plan, which has allowed him some time to get the next important steps of his life in order and he’s clearly used it well to be set up with Lockton. ” It’s a timely reminder for all players to check their insurance provision as we approach the new season and ask the question, ‘Am I adequately covered, should the worst case scenario occur?'” Details of PCA insurance cover can be found at: https://www.thepca.co.uk/insurance-pca.html For further information contact David Leatherdale on 07990 558681 or email dleatherdale@thepca.co.uk {{ak_sharing}}
