DH,
This just in, from the What Goes Around Comes Around Dept.:
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A Charlotte, NC man purchased a box of 24 very rare and expensive cigars, and then insured them against fire, among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these expensive cigars and without yet 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 that 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 man sued..... and won!
In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated, nevertheless, that the man held a legitimate 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 therefore obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid the $15,000 claim to the man for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."
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. He was sentenced to 24 months in jail, and had to pay a fine of $24,000. |
