Strange & True

A Charlotte, North Carolina man, having purchased a case of rare, very
expensive cigars, insured them against ... get this ... fire. Within a
month, having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and having
yet to make a single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim
against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he had
lost the cigars in "a series of small fires." The insurance company
refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the
cigars in a normal fashion.

The man sued... and won! In delivering his ruling, the judge stated
that since 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 the cigars against fire, without defining what it considered
to be "unacceptable fire," it was obligated to compensate the insured
for his loss. Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the
insurance company accepted the judge's ruling and paid the man $15,000
for the rare cigars he lost in "the fires."

After the man cashed his check, however, the insurance company had him
arrested ... on 24 counts of arson! With his own insurance claim and
testimony from the previous case being used as evidence against him, the
man was convicted of intentionally burning the rare cigars and sentenced
to 24 consecutive one year terms!

Joke Index Homepage