Extremely obscure question

[L.Cage4hire]

I used to read D. Eddings obsessively a couple of years ago. I don’t read his stuff any more, but something from those books has been nagging me for the longest time..
At one point in the books, someone (it might have been stragen, but I am really not sure) mentioned a word for a really strange crime.
As I recall, the mystery word is when a captain or a ship deliberately scuttles his own ship to collect insurance money. It might have been insurance money or cargo money or something like that.
Anyway, I was hoping that someone could help me out with the mystery word. It will be nagging me forever until I find out.


Thanks!

 

[Talysia]

Was the word Barratry? I haven't read the Elenium for a while, so I'm not sure, but that word stuck in my head for some reason.

 

[Nesacat]

Yes it is indeed and applies across the board in several legal areas; maritime law being one of them.

Another very common example would be a lawyer seeing an accident and then following the ambulance to the hospital emergency room in the hopes of persuading the victims to file a lawsuit.

 

[L.Cage4hire]

Thanks so much
Barratry. What a good word.

 

[Talysia]

No problem.

It is a good sounding word, isn't it?