Posted by MikLSP
A true story, from America of course!
A man in America bought several of the finest Cuban Cigars & insured them for $15,000 against fire damage! (Can u see where this is going!)
He received his policy & before even paying his first premium he smoked the cigars! He then claimed on his insurance as they had in fact been destroyed by fire
The insurance company disputed the case & took him to court but the court found in his favour!!! (Only in America)
The judge stated that the insurance covered fire & didn't specify that this excluded smoking the cigars & they had to pay out $15,000!!!
Clever guy eh? Or so he though........it gets better!
The insurance payed up & as soon as the guy had cashed the cheque they reported him for destruction of property by arson!
Back in court the guy had no chance as his entire arguement in the 1st case now proved him guilty!
He was sentenced to 4 months in prison & fined $20,000!
Posted by Krubach
Take that smart*ss!!!
Total balance: -$5000 + jail.
Posted by masseur
I'm afraid this is an old urban legend
The Legend
A man with a collection of fine cigars had his valuable stogies insured against fire. After he'd smoked them all, he filed a claim with the insurance company, claiming compensation because his possessions had been destroyed by fire.
The insurance company balked, but the man took them to court. The judge decided that the cigars were indeed lost in a fire and that the insurance company had to pay, so the company paid but had the man arrested for arson. After his arrest, the man pointed out that he'd taken out a large anti-kidnapping policy that would pay if he was confined against his will, so the insurance company had to drop the charges, but they did so on the condition that the man allow them to refund the premiums and cancel the policies covering his bathtub for flooding, his Kleenex for damage by high winds, and his fish for drowning.
Behind the Legend
The man who insured his cigars was Jason P. Mountebank, and he lived in New York city. The incident in question took place in the winter of 1960-1961. The policy did not cover a collection, but only gross of cigars of a particularly rare Cuban vintage, and valued at over $100 apiece. Moutnebank collected some $14,400 from the insurance company -- a fair amount of money in the early 1960s.
The tail end of the legend -- about additional policies being canceled -- is played for laughs (albeit weak ones) and has no basis in fact. A few years after the incident, however, Mountebank purchased a large Montana lemming farm and had its residents insured against suicide with results I'm sure you can puzzle out for yourself.
Posted by MikLSP
Well I thought my version was better
Posted by masseur
agreed
and thats what makes urban legends... urban legends!
yeah I know... I'm a spoilsport!
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[ This Message was edited by: masseur on 2005-02-28 13:12 ]
Posted by nickorooster
Wait, but didn't he own the Cigars? How could that be arson?
Nick
Posted by MikLSP
You could still be locked up for burning down your own house or property so I assume this is no different.
Any lawyers knockin about to define the terms of arson?
Posted by Sammy_boy
All this is probably giving Scotsboyuk a few ideas!
Posted by Jake Blues
its the same as when richard pryor got arrested for shooting up his own car, because his wife was gonna leave him in it. he still got done for trashing the car.
Posted by methylated_spirit
Its so much easier to just not smoke.
Posted by nickorooster
@ Meths
Yeah i agree. And you'll probably save that much from not buying ciggies in a lifetime!
Well, if that's arson, can I be commiting arson whenever I have a barbeque? (Not often I admit, in the UK
.)