A Charlotte, NC, lawyer (this can only happen in America) 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 the 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 cheque, 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
fine. This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent
Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
Back to List
|