Never Cheat A Lawyer . . . (Editted By: Lil' Viv)

A Charlotte, NC man purchased a box of very rare and
expensive cigars and 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 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 with the insurance company that the
claim was frivolous. The judge stated that, nevertheless,
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 them against fire,
without defining what it considered to be "un-
acceptable 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
$15,000.00 to the man for his loss of the rare cigars
lost in the "fires."

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 was
sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.