Cigars and Insurance:
> A Charlotte, NC, man having purchased a case 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 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 agreeing that the claim was frivolous, 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 it 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 for
> the rare cigars he lost in "the fires." After the man cashed the check,
>
> however, the 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
> fine.