True Story

[MercurE1]

Ah, Sweet Revenge Visits a Lawyer!



How's this for the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard.....
A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive
cigars, then insured them against fire among other things. Within

a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars

and without yet having made even his first premium payment on

The policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of

Small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the

obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the

normal fashion. The lawyer sued – and won!
In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance

company that he claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless,

that the lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had

warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it

would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered

To be "unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather

than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance

company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his

Loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."


NOW FOR THE BEST PART ...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him
arrested on 24 counts of arson! With his own insurance claim and

testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer

was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was

Sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.


This is a true story and won first place in the recent Criminal
Lawyers Award Contest.

[blue boat]

good story

better ending

blue boat

[easyrider]

The Man Who Insured his Rare Cigars, Smoked Them All, Then Collected on the insurance-Fiction!


Summary of eRumor:
A man bought a box of rare, expensive cigars, then took out fire insurances on them. When he had finished smoking them, he filed a claim against the insurance company. The company turned down his claim, but he filed a lawsuit and won, getting $15,000 from the insurance company.


The Truth:
A little too slick to be true, and it isn't. No evidence of this case has ever been found and it has been around as an urban legend since at least 1968 when we first ran across it and researched it.


A real example of the story as it has been circulated:


Only in America...

A Charlotte, NC man having purchased a box of very rare, very
expensive cigars, insured them against fire among other things.

Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of cigars and
without having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the
man filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the man stated the cigars were lost "in series of small
fires".

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason; that
the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The man sued......and won! In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed
that the claim was frivolous.

He stated nevertheless that 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 against fire, without defining what
is considered to be, "unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay
the claim.

Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance
company accepted the ruling and paid the man $15,000.00 for the rare
cigars he had lost in the "fires".

HERE COMES THE BEST PART!!

After the man cashed the check, the insurance company had him
arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case
being used against him, the man was convicted of intentionally
burning his insured property and sentenced to 24 months in jail and a
$24,000.00 fine.