Urban Legends -- Arson and Cigars (All Lies)

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.

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