Worth the risk? It’s not easy to put a value on a cathedral

LONDON — Rebuilding Notre Dame, the 800-year-old Paris cathedral devastated by fire this week, will cost billions of dollars as architects, historians and artisans work to preserve the medieval landmark.

But little of the money will come from insurance companies.

Notre Dame and all of its pre-1905 artworks are the property of the French state and not insured. The French government is responsible for costs like restoration and rebuilding.

Unique forms of property, like monuments or religious relics, are hard to value. How do you put a price tag on sentiment, history and international renown?

“A small number of specialized insurers, notably Lloyd’s of London, are often willing to accept the risk of undertaking such valuations, but the resulting premiums are very high,” says Bruce Huber, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

The Associated Press