Burn Baby Burn - A Cigar Story
ONLY IN THE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM
A Charlotte, North Carolina man, having purchased a case of rare, very
expensive cigars, insured them against ... get this ...fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and
having yet to make a single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a
claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he
had lost the cigars in "a series of small fires."
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man
had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion. The man sued...and won!
In delivering his ruling, the judge stated that since the man held a policy
from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable,
and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against fire, without
defining what it considered to be "unacceptable fire," it was obligated to
compensate the insured for his loss.
Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance
company accepted the judge's ruling and paid the man $15,000 for the rare
cigars he lost in "the fires." After the man cashed his check, however, the
insurance company had him arrested ... on 24 counts of arson!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used
as evidence against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning the
rare cigars and sentenced to 24 consecutive one year terms!
