OFF BEAT: Lawsuit against insurer settles for seriously heavy dough

People prefer cash to coins, especially when the payout is thousands of dollars delivered by the bucketload.

East Los Angeles, California, resident Andres Carrasco, 76, found himself with a lawsuit settlement paid with thousands of quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies in buckets, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Carrasco filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Rancho Cucamonga, California-based insurer Adriana’s Insurance Services Inc., and the parties reached a settlement agreement in June, according to the AP.

Antonio Gallo, Mr. Carrasco’s lawyer, did not disclose the amount of the settlement, but he told AP that Adriana’s representatives delivered what might be around $20,000 or more in coins to Mr. Gallo’s office. Adriana’s did pay part of the settlement with a check, he said.

“There’s maybe 17 buckets of coins,” Mr. Gallo said, according to the report. “They probably (each) weigh anywhere between 70 to 100 pounds. I'm assuming, because I can’t lift them.”

Mr. Gallo has been in contact with an attorney for Adriana’s, and he is hoping to negotiate a payment by check for Mr. Carrasco, according to the report.

“It’s insulting to my client. He's 76 years old, he just had a hernia operation. Come on,” Mr. Gallo told the AP.