Mailbox Destroyed

[TheProfessor]

Town road. Paved.

The town plows destroyed my mailbox and post. The post and mailbox were properly spaced and placed. No issues for over 25 years.

What recourse does a homeowner have in your town for this?

[Bear Guy]

Newmarket NH is very straightforward: call them. Right from their website:
the-town-plow-truck-knocked-down-my-mailbox-who-do-i-call
That said, never had an issue in well over a decade.

[TCC]

Things like this happen. Over the 24 years I lived in Maine we lost two or three. The town replaced them - standard wood cross-bar posts and black metal mailboxes - but I suspect the policy is on a town-by-town basis. If you managed to go 25 years without losing a mailbox, then I'd think that speaks very well of the skill of your plow drivers. Until I've spent some serious time behind the wheel of a plow truck, I won't be quick to judge.

[Doobs41378]

I think I read somewhere that the town owns the first 10 ft or something from the street so the land is actually theirs that the mailbox is on. I would call and see what they say. Things happen.

[radioman]

Sorry to hear this but have you ever plowed snow on a town truck? You will survive and have the opportunity to replace the damage at very little cost.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

What recourse does a homeowner have in your town for this?

What matters is what recourse does a homeowner in your town have for this. Unless you're conducting an informational poll, what might happen in any other town doesn't mean squat. Pick up the phone and call your town's public works department.

[Woody38]

Three mailboxes in years past were destroyed by plows plowing for the town.
Two across from our house. The town replaced all with attractive stone posts,
one granite.

Call the town and state the facts.

I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic.

[Lakeboater]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

Town road. Paved.

The town plows destroyed my mailbox and post. The post and mailbox were properly spaced and placed. No issues for over 25 years.

What recourse does a homeowner have in your town for this?

If the post was wood or metal and 25 years old it might of just been the wet snow being thrown from the plow that broke it.

[jbolty]

My dad set a post in a 5 gallon milk can and put the mail box on it. It got knocked over countless times but we would stand it back up or drag it out of the snow bank.

No idea if it's still there now but anyone who drove up Bean Rd over the last 40 years or so has seen it out there in all it's bright red glory.

[Blue Thunder]

As stated above, it can be very different from town to town. Here are the basics. 99 out of 100 mailboxes are not on your property. Either the town or the State, in some cases, owns the land. Placing your mailbox there is a risk you take. Snow exiting the plow can exert the same force as David Ortiz swinging at it with a baseball bat. Why those of us here in New England mount mailboxes on a wood post is beyond me...but we do. Even a pressure treated post starts to rot in the ground after just a few short years.
The policy in my town is "you're on your own" unless you can prove the Town plow struck the box, i.e.; yellow paint on the box.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by TMI Guy

What matters is what recourse does a homeowner in your town have for this. Unless you're conducting an informational poll, what might happen in any other town doesn't mean squat. Pick up the phone and call your town's public works department.

Echo that. If you hit one with your car, your insurance policy would pay on your behalf. Why do you think Towns don't have insurance?

[HWY-61]

I solved the smashed mailbox problem with one of these.
http://www.mailswing.com/
It's not fancy, just functional.

Phil