Only In America? Maybe.

[FineLinen]

This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire.

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

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, 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 an acceptable "fire" and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss the cigars lost in the "fires".

Meanwhile

After the lawyer 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 lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

[fire walker]

Sounds like this lawyer would have been better off just smoking a pipe and keeping himself and his pipe out of the affairs and clutches of corporate insurance companies, so it appears it was not his smoking but his greed that trurned tables on him and bit him big time.

Peace,
Fire Walker