For a man who has just had his £90 million (around $146 million) Caribbean home burnt to the ground, Richard Branson appears surprisingly chipper.

The Balinese style home, said to be the most expensive holiday home ever to be destroyed, was set ablaze after being struck by lightning in the early hours a little over a week ago.

Necker Island, which Branson bought for around £180,000 in 1979

The billionaire Virgin boss appeared beaming in front of the blackened ruins on Necker Island last week, one arm slung around Kate Winslet and the other proudly proffering a pet tortoise, who luckily had also escaped the blaze.

Branson told press: “It makes you realise that all that matters is the people you love. Everything else is just stuff. And none of that stuff that really matters.”

But one wonders: would his smile have been so wide had he, like nearly two-thirds of British individuals, been underinsured for his valuable goods?

According to insurer Hiscox, 60 per cent of high net worth homeowners underestimate the true value of their possessions, leaving them at the risk of a real riches to rags scenario. 

The insurer analysed surveys carried out on its clients over the course of last year. Many had not considered the items that had accumulated over the years, items inherited or the fluctuations in value of art, antiques and jewellery.

However, when it comes to insurance, entrepreneurs like Branson and the self-made wealthy are considerably better at insuring their valuables than inheritors, said Robert Read, head of private clients and art at Hiscox.

He said: “It is where you have inherited items that most issues happen. When people go out and buy the goods themselves, they tend to attach greater value to them. Self-made wealthy are better at keeping track of their stuff.”

That, and all the free publicity the fire has given the Virgin empire, gives Branson plenty of reasons to grin.