8 luxury cars burned, insurance company refuses to pay due to 'human error'

About six months ago, eight luxury vehicles were set on fire at the Auto Premium dealership lot in Rishon LeZion. The damage is estimated at 4.8 million shekels. Migdal Insurance, which insured the inventory, refuses to compensate, claiming the policy did not cover arson due to a human error in wording. Auto Premium has filed a lawsuit, alleging artificial and bad-faith rejection.

About six months ago, at the end of March 2026, a luxury vehicle lot owned by Auto Premium on Lishansky Street in Rishon LeZion was set on fire. A motorcyclist arrived at four in the morning, attempted to torch two BMWs but failed, refueled and refilled a gasoline bottle, and returned to successfully ignite them. Eight vehicles went up in flames: four (two BMWs, a Mercedes, and a Land Rover) were completely burned, and four others (a Porsche, an Audi, a Land Rover, and a BMW) were partially scorched. The total damage, according to an appraisal report, is 4.8 million shekels. The police arrested a suspect, Yitzhak Ravivo, and in May 2026 an indictment was filed against him. However, the legal battle of the lot owners has only just begun: Migdal Insurance, which insured the vehicle inventory for about 13 million shekels against a monthly premium of 49,000 shekels, refuses to compensate. Migdal claims the policy did not cover malicious damage or arson, and that the omission of the exclusion clause was due to a 'human error' by the underwriter. Auto Premium has filed a lawsuit against Migdal, arguing that this is an artificial and bad-faith attempt to retroactively insert an exclusion into the policy. The article analyzes the issue of contract interpretation and the Afropim precedent, and quotes attorney Chen Gilad, representing Auto Premium, calling on the regulator to tighten supervision over insurance companies.