Mailbox Smashed…

jrockbridge

jrockbridge

Stealing Your Riffs
…By Subaru.



IMG_6040.jpeg

IMG_6039.jpeg

IMG_6055.jpeg

IMG_6067.jpeg
 
Punchy said:
Damn, at least they didn't hit one of the posts!
Click to expand...

Years ago, a woman visiting her parents for Thanksgiving plowed into one of those monuments, knocking it over. She was probably drunk. She drove off. Her parents in the neighborhood looked up our phone number based on our address and left a message with their number. She was an adult, who probably would not have done the right thing without her parent's insistence. Thank goodness for good neighbors.

I could not get anyone to come out for an estimate to repair that monument. I guess it was too small a job. So, I had her auto insurance company cut me a check and I did the work myself.

As for the mailbox, a teen boy, new driver, dropped something while driving. He reached down for it and drifted off to the right.

He and his Mom showed up on my ring doorbell at 8 am. I was just waking up and did not answer. They left a note. Again, thank goodness for good neighbors.

The mailbox is going to be expensive $550. Metal post $175. I was quoted $725 for labor including damaged mailbox removal, old concrete removal, new concrete, installation, etc. Still, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of repair to a Subaru Crosstrek.

I'll probably end up doing the work myself if I can get the insurance company to cut the check directly to me. They have Geico.
 
I was visiting a friend's house for the first time just a year or so ago and backed over his neighbor's mailbox.
Oooops. Snapped the post where it touched the ground.
I was actually putting the entire mailbox and post into the back of my truck when the lady came home, lol.
I apologized and the next day went out and put up a new mailbox (and post) for her.

Sure didn't cost me $1k though.

I like the Home Depot bucket, lol. Hey, gotta do what you gotta do....
 
I buy purposely cheap mailbox hardware, pressure treated 4x4, a bit of qickcrete, and stickers for the number. The cheapest traditional mental mailbox at Lowes. The last time (just a couple weeks ago) the pole stayed up and they just tore off the mailbox. Of course I have no idea who did it, just a bent up mailbox in the ditch. So it was only a $30 repair and I didnt have to set a new post. No getting an insurance co involved. Probably the 3rd or 4th time mines been knocked down since we moved here in 2008.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
I buy purposely cheap mailbox hardware, pressure treated 4x4, a bit of qickcrete, and stickers for the number. The cheapest traditional mental mailbox at Lowes. The last time (just a couple weeks ago) the pole stayed up and they just tore off the mailbox. Of course I have no idea who did it, just a bent up mailbox in the ditch. So it was only a $30 repair and I didnt have to set a new post. No getting an insurance co involved. Probably the 3rd or 4th time mines been knocked down since we moved here in 2008.
Click to expand...

The mailbox I had before this was a cheapie that would periodically get knocked over by snow from the plows. I kept patching the post together with pieces of wood and screws. I can’t recall the final straw that prompted me to buy the galvanized metal, security mailbox, but I installed it myself including concrete and it lasted 19 years.

There was an incident where someone smashed the metal mailbox with a real estate sign. It left a dent but did not defeat the function. 2020 someone drilled out the lock, stole our mail and threw it into a neighbor’s yard. The neighbor brought the mail to me. AFAIK we only lost a few Covid test kits from that incident. I replaced the lock.

The company still makes the same model of mailbox. I have sent Geico estimates that add up to between $1200 to $1400, including labor, removal of old concrete, removal old mailbox, new Architectural Mailbox, new metal post, re-painting the same sand color as the original, because black is the only color currently manufactured, etc. If Geico cuts me a check, I think I’ll buy a simple mailbox, install it myself, and buy a new guitar pedal.
 
This is a disc. Farmers use it to break up the soil and incorporate the stubble of last year's crop or manure into the soil. the round things, discs, wear out, just like tires for a car and need to be replaced. There's a guy I know, former friend, that lived where there is a small rise in the road so, in front of his house, the snow always drifts more than the rest of the road. It's a state highway so, there is a lot of non-local traffic that don't expect it, end up sideways and take out his mailbox. So, instead of putting yet another post in the ground, he welded a pipe to one of the old discs. The bonus is when the car hits it and it falls over, it really fucks up their radiator/underside of their car. On the one hand, it's not like any of the multiple people stopped and offered to pay for the damage they caused but, he's an asshole.
 
After ours got smashed a second time, I wanted to anchor mine two feet into the ground.... but I was told that it's illegal to make a car-shredding mailbox like that. So instead, I got one of the concrete balls with the mailbox post from Lowes.... and dug a shallow hole to put the concrete ball 5 or 6 inches underground. It will eventually let go if someone hits it... but it will fuuuuck up someones car. And I just need to dig out the loose dirt and stand it back up and fill in around the concrete. :helper:

To be honest though.... when I did all that, I moved it to the other side of our driveway, further from the corner where everyone slides off the road. Fingers crossed, the mailbox has been untouched since.
 
Our mailbox is a mile away where the dirt road meets the highway. We never ran into people plowing through it, but got our mail stolen enough (even with a "security" mailbox) to finally just get a PO box in town.
 
I used to have a near-by neighbor who got tired of his mailbox getting damaged...vandals would attack every version of his mailbox as he adapted it to their last attempt.

Eventually he fabricated one made from plate steel/rebar/steel beams with a locking font plate that the mail carrier has to use a key to open. Eventually someone hit it with their car and it did more damage to the car than to the mailbox. IIRC there was a lawsuit that was settled out of court and the bunker box was removed. (It was a pretty rural area & the carrier was another neighbor, which is probably the only reason she agreed to carry the key for a road side postal box)
 
I am a newbie in this realm of mailbox smashing (snow from a state snowplow did take mine out a few years ago, but not intentional vandalism or drunk driving vandalism). Given that you can have massive concrete/brick posts near the mailbox, why is it illegal to have a reinforced mailbox?
 
I'm feeling deja vu. See text of the email from the Geico adjuster below. It's just as I recall when my monument got damaged by an auto on Thanksgiving years ago. The check cut by their auto insurance was not enough to hire a handyman, so I did the work myself.

What Geico is willing to pay $659 will not even cover the cost of the labor $725 for a handyman. I HAVE to do it myself. I feel bad for people who can't do it themselves. They have to pay out of pocket to cover the difference.

I can understand depreciation on an old mailbox. However, depreciation on labor to install a mailbox does not seem fair. I don't have a Time Machine. I cannot go back in time and hire a handyman from 19 years in the past.

I checked into the law. At least in Colorado, insurance companies are allowed to depreciate the cost of labor.

From adjuster:

"I am the property damage adjuster reviewing your claim for the mailbox damage.

Here is the break down regarding the amount approved for the mailbox:

Reduced $440.11, as per industry standards, depreciation is warranted, we owe for the actual cash value (ACV) of damaged property at the time of loss, not the replacement cost value (RCV) of an invoice. A mailbox depreciates at roughly 6.67% per year. The total charge assessed on this invoice is $725.00, materials $344.98 plus sales tax 8.63% ($29.77), carrying a 40.02% depreciation rate for 6 years of age (mailbox is older than that), we would be reducing $440.11 from $1099.75, approving total $659.64.

If the structure was new, less than 1-5 years old please provide supporting documentation or invoice evidence for re-consideration.

Without an estimate/invoice provided I would not be adding the approximate cost for refinishing/lettering.

Payment options will be texted to you so you can choose how and where you’d like to receive your payment.
If you don't select a payment option within 5 days, a check will be sent to you in the mail.

Thank you,"
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top