BBC
When Ashley Bishop was injured, he had just become a self-employed electrician.
An amateur rugby player is warning others to make sure they have insurance after an injury has left him without income.
Ashley Bishop, 38, had been working as a self-employed electrician for just five weeks when she suffered a serious injury to her right foot while playing for Rhyl RFC in Denbighshire.
He was scheduled to meet with an insurance agent a few days after his injury to arrange appropriate insurance.
Wales Rugby Union (WRU) said it was disappointed to hear of the injury and encouraged clubs to discuss arranging further compensation for the player.
Mr Bishop will require several months of treatment and a long recovery period before returning to work, but the club is raising money to help cover some of the costs.
“The positive I would like to take from this is to make a case for how important this is to other Welsh players and hopefully spread the word so they don’t make the same mistakes I made. “We encourage people to do that,” he said.
The father of two was told that even if he recovered, he could expect to lose all flexibility in his left and right legs.
“The first thing I said was, ‘I just started my own business, how am I going to go to work on Monday with these legs?'”
ashley bishop
Ashley Bishop says of her family and rugby injuries: “We rely heavily on my salary and income so it has had a huge impact on that aspect.”
“We rely heavily on my salary and income, so it has a huge impact on that aspect.
“I just invested my savings in the business, so if I hadn’t invested it in the business, I would have had a little bit of money to live on for the next three months.”
Bishop had only played 10 minutes to help the developing players when the injury occurred.
He was scheduled to meet with his insurance agent the following Tuesday to finalize an insurance policy for next week’s official game.
Rhyl Rugby Club chairman Gareth John says the club has invited an insurance agent to speak to the players.
Like players from other clubs, Rhyl players carry WRU public liability insurance.
However, this does not provide insurance for income replacement protection, which may particularly affect the self-employed.
Clubs like Rhyl bring in agents to discuss the types of insurance available to their players.
Club chairman Gareth John said: “We would strongly recommend, or certainly consider, targeting these players.”
ashley bishop
Ashley Bishop faces months of rehabilitation after foot injury requires further surgery
Many young players, who may not have financial commitments such as families or mortgages, said they don’t feel the need for additional insurance.
But 24-year-old first team player Owen Jones said his teammate’s injury made him think again.
“I think a lot of people are bringing this up now after watching Ash,” the student said.
“Let’s look at how that affected him considering their own business and welfare.”
Owen Jones says Ashley Bishop’s injury has made him consider taking out other players on his insurance policy
Fellow student teammate Jack Walsh, 19, said players his age needed to think about what they would do if they couldn’t pay their bills.
“There are young people who don’t have insurance and have to pay rent. They won’t have any other income coming in,” he said.
Coach Jack Walsh says even student players may have trouble finding rentals if they miss out due to injury.
The WRU said: “We are extremely disappointed to learn of the difficulties the identified individuals are experiencing and are advised that players and clubs should arrange for further compensation as appropriate based on their individual circumstances. I agree,” he said.
It added that WRU member clubs, district clubs and unions will receive a standard level of cover free of charge to their club or 60,000 individual players.
“We also actively encourage clubs to discuss with players the possibility of arranging additional insurance, including bespoke insurance for the self-employed.”
