Seit 1965 taucht folgendes Märchen immer wieder auf. Es handelt von einem Mann, der in Charlotte (North Carolina) eine Kiste Cigarren gekauft und versichert hat. Nachdem er die Cigarren geraucht hatte, machte er einen Schaden geltend, weil seine Cigarren durch eine „Reihe von kleinen Feuern» verloren gegangen seien. Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: Die Versicherung bezahlte 15’000 Dollar. Der Clou: Anschliessend verklagte sie den Mann wegen Brandstiftung in 24 Fällen (es ging wohl um ein Kistchen Trinidad) und erhielt Recht: Der Raucher wurde zu 24’000 Dollar Busse und 24 Monaten Haft verurteilt.

Die Welt hat die Sage zum Anlass einer Geschichte mit dem Titel «Die Vollkasko-Havanna» genommen.

Hier (eine) Version der eingangs erwähnten Geschichte in Englisch:

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 the cigars would be insured 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 grudgingly 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.