Lawyer A. Charlotte, NC, (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