When an Obvious Arson is Just an Accident
"This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Suspected Insurance Fraud
from an Expert who explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails
You Lose” situation for Insurers. The stories help to Understand How
Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance
Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and
More Profitable for the Perpetrators than any Other Crime."
THE FIRE
Sometimes, what looks like an obvious arson for profit turns out to be
an accidental fire. The insured lived near the ocean within the city
limits of San Luis Obispo. Recently divorced she lived alone for many
months. The divorce had caused her much emotional trauma. After
twenty-five years of marriage, her husband announced he could not live
with her anymore and moved out.
She sought treatment for her depression. She visited with multiple
psychiatrists and psychologists, who only made her life more miserable.
When the divorce was final and she gained absolute title to the land and
house the book store owner moved into the house with her. As they, and
their friends, concentrated their psychic energies, they became
convinced that a major earthquake would strike California and destroy
all who lived in San Luis Obispo.
Shortly before escrow closed, while the insured and her book store owner
lover, slept in the master bedroom, a fire broke out in the second
bedroom of the house. Awakened by a sound like a heavy rainstorm, they
discovered the fire and escaped naked through the bedroom window into
their backyard. Neighbors called the fire department who quickly
extinguished the fire after all its contents and most of the structure
were destroyed.
THE INVESTIGATION
The investigation by the fire department revealed that the fire was
suspicious. No specific cause could be found for the fire. It did burn
very hot. There were marks on the floor in the second bedroom that
seemed to show a flammable liquid was spread. The insurer was concerned.
It demanded the examinations under oath of the insured and her book
store owner lover. Both testified clearly, concisely and honestly that
they had no idea why the fire occurred.
The insurer conducted a thorough investigation and retained the services
of an experienced fire cause and origin investigator. He sifted through
the debris and found in the debris an electrically operated bed,
equipped with a polyurethane foam mattress. The investigator advised the
insurer that, after examining the bed and after reviewing the testimony
of the insured and her lover at the examination under oath, it was his
conclusion that the fire was the result of a short circuit in the bed
motor which ignited the highly flammable (and now banned) polyurethane
foam mattress. He explained that polyurethane foam, when heat is applied
to it, liquefies and burns vigorously. The liquefied polyurethane foam
flows on floor surfaces and leaves a trail similar to that left by the
spreading of a flammable petrochemical accelerant.
The mystery solved; the insurer paid the insured the loss she incurred
to her personal property. The two insurers split the cost of rebuilding
the structure. The insured and her lover used the proceeds of the sale
of the house and the insurance claim to move to the house they had found
in Tennessee.
They now live in a large home on ten acres of land where they have
gathered with them other believers in the occult and the power of the
mind. Since both the insured and her lover were ministers of the
Universal Life Church, they performed their own wedding.
Adapted from my book "Insurance Fraud Costs Everyone" available from Amazon.com as a paperback or a Kindle book
(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.