Why a £22,000 handbag is not as extravagant as it may appear, relatively speaking
Insurance firm Aviva saw a £22,000 claim for a stolen handbag and its contents
How much in the way of money and valuables do you walk around with? The Royal Society of Chemistry once calculated that tiny amounts of gold, silver and other precious metals in the actor Benedict Cumberbatch – and presumably other people too – would be worth nearly £100,000, so it may be considerably more than you might think.
Of course, added to our innate value – surely something that no one can put a price on (any actuaries reading this should address their letters to the editor) – is what we walk around with: perhaps a smartphone, a few quid in cash in case the shop’s wifi is on the blink, and for about half the population, a handbag.
That latter item can be surprisingly valuable. According to insurers Aviva, the average handbag and its contents is now worth £1,633, up by 34 per cent since 2021. One of the most expensive insurance claims came to more than £22,000 as it was a designer bag that contained a pricey watch, jewellery and sunglasses.
Overly extravagant? Perhaps, but it’s still less than quarter of a Cumberbatch...