SWEET REVENGE
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 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 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.
This is a true story and it won 1999's Criminal Darwin Award.
