California insurer pays out in buckets, literally

[August 07, 2014]  (Reuters) - A California insurer has paid a $21,000 court settlement in more than a dozen buckets of coins to an elderly man who alleged an employee assaulted him when he tried to buy insurance, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It took eight representatives of Rancho Cucamonga-based Adriana's Insurance to deliver 16 to 18 buckets of hard currency to the lawyer representing 76-year-old Andres Carrasco, who sued the company in 2012, the Times reported on Wednesday.

His attorney, Antonio Gallo, told the newspaper the retired bus driver "feels like he is disrespected."

Carrasco reached a settlement with the company and expected to be paid by July 25, but the company told Gallo they would not issue a check, the Times reported.

Gallo, who initially thought the delivery of quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies was a joke, added: "It's unfortunate that a business like that would use some of these tactics".

Adriana's Insurance and Gallo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

The coins were sent to a bank for counting, the newspaper said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.