ONLY IN THE U.S LEGAL SYSTEM

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,ooo for the rare cigars he lost in "the fires."...

****This is the funny part****

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.

Contributed by MeJennifer

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