No mail box!

Thats about the most assenine thing I ever heard of !!!

Don't get out much, huh?

A woman spills a hot cup of coffee in her crotch, and sues the McDonald's drive through for selling coffee that is unsafely hot.

A burglar breaks into a garage, but can't get out. He sues and wins for mental anguish for being in there for a few days.

Need I go on?

Steve

i did file a police report. That's why they sent the police out to me, I showed the officer the car make/model/color/license plate and the apartment complex I followed her to, and even told him where the car was parked. But he was not interested. He only took down my name, age, my address and that's it, he had no intention of a follow up, and his body language says to me I am wasting his time...which I guess...in today's world when there are cold blooded murderers and terrorists running around, I guess he is right...

The damage, the box cost me $350 originally, it is now $425 plus shipping. I installed a metal post myself i got from HD for $19.95, so it's under $500 of damage. If it comes down to insurance. it's probably under her deductable, so her insurance company won't pay anyways, so it goes back to her. If she did not have the decency to stop and apologize (which is what I wanted in the first place, if she did that I would have told her not to worry about the damage), she wouldn't have the decency to pay up.

MC

Where would one buy an I-Beam?

How deep into the ground would the I-Beam need to be driven in order for it to be near indestructable?

MC

Yellow pages under Structural Steel or Steel Supply. Some scrapyards may have it cheaper.

Don't know for sure, but 3 to 4 feet would take a hell of a hit.

I sold the home a year ago, drive by there often the box and pole are fine.

Over the 10 years of I beam construction:) The box got hit once and demolished. lucky person must of just missed the pole. took box off the top.

they slid 15 feet and did serious damage to a fir tree, but didnt leave there id info. nrearly killed the tree

did leave lots of car parts,,,

If anyone uses a steel beam DONT concrete it in place! Because its unnecessary, and besides if someone hits it it will be too heavy and awkard to dig up and plumb.

Incidently because of some utility construction I had to pull the pole once, with concrete it would of been impoossible...

You have to get really !@@##$ at people destroying your box pole, and its stronger the deeper its in. dont recommend it, but its effective

a 2 foot deep pole would likely coe out of the ground if hit, while one buried 6 feet isnt going anywhere.

I'm pretty sure Florida has a law against leaving the scene of an accident where there has been property damage.

I don't know why the investigating officer did nothing. I would suggest you contact a supervisor at the police department, or the prosecutor, and ask why no action has been taken. Probably a certified letter would get a better response than a visit.

Ignore the half-wits who encourage you to plant an Ibeam for your mailbox. That would be called creat> Will the post office deliver mail to my door if I no longer have a mail box? >

Ignore the half-wits who encourage you to plant an Ibeam for your mailbox. That would be called creating a hazard, and anyone who was injured by hitting it would have a very good chance of getting everything you have, and then they could remove the Ibeam from their lawn.

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miamicuse wrote:

MC

OBVIOUSLY you havent been thru the frustration of replacing 10 mailboxes and poles in a 2 year period:( let alone the cost:( Sure its maybe 25 bucks a time but after 10 events costs add up:(

I DONT recommend it just reported what I did. Its no different than putting landscape boulders on your lawn by the mailbox...

Its never ceases to amaze me how the incident rate dropped on my box, from every few months to once in 10 years.

Incidently a careless driver might hit anything including a parked car with much the same results as my I beam pole.

You really don't care what her deductible is. An insurance deductible only applies to the policyholder making a claim again their own policy. If you make a claim against her company they are required to defend against that claim and should they choose to settle (pay a claim) or have a judgment entered against them they pay and then take it up with their policyholder (jack up rates, cancel, surcharge, whatever). It's seamless to you as the aggrieved (other) party. Almost every state requires a vehicle to be insured for liability (protecting other people from the policyholder), none, that I know if, mandates fire, theft, or collision coverage (protecting the policyholder from themselves or other people). Leinholders are the ones who require that coverage as a part of financing to protect their financial interest.

I believe in Florida you can 'buy' her address from the DMV if the need came to that.

Your damages are probably far in excess of $500.00 and are as follows:

1. The replacement cost of the box (5.00?, wow, what a mailbox!, save the old one to be able to prove it was the Cadillac of mailboxes!) don't forget shipping and handling;
2. .00 for the post and any delivery charge; AND
3. The cost of installation to include any concrete or other supplies. If it comes to small claims court or her insurance company requires, get an estimate from a landscaping company or some other professional who does that type of work. The cost, if any, of the estimate would also be a legitimate expense. Of course, after settlement, should you decide to install it yourself that is completely OK you are simply quantifying the cost of installation with the estimate.

You could probably claim against your own homeowner's policy and your insurance company will claim against her motor vehicle policy carrier but then you risk an increase in your rates, or worse (which IMHO is bogus because that's what you're paying premiums for), or you can claim her carrier directly and not worry about your company.

Just my 2 cents.

Jay

Go to a scrap dealer. My guess is that it would be about thirty cents a pound, what it goes for here. You don't pound it into the ground. You dig a nice round hole about three feet deep, then put it in concrete. Be sure that you have it nice and plumb using a level.

If you can find it, salvage railroad rail works great, too, and isn't too expensive. Cars definitely won't hurt it much. If it is ever bent, a welder can straighten it with a come-along and a torch with a rosebud tip.

Steve

SNIP WHINING ABOUT DOUGHNUT ADDICTS

Do you practice to be so stooopid?

Her deductable is irrelevant. Her company pays you damages. In full. Period.

Only if she is making a claim for damage to her property does her deducable come into play.

Sheesh.

"Not@home" wrote

Huh? Half wits? Someone who wants to put up whatever kind of mailbox they want in the land of freedom is a half wit? Call me a half wit, then, you moron! (That's someone who is half as smart as a half wit.)

As long as it is compliant with local code and setbacks established by the road department, it's legal. I think someone who would file a case of hitting something outside the roadway has pretty slim chances of collecting. Otherwise, we would have multiple lawsuits already of drivers being attacked by trees.

Steve

See inline comments.

What purpose????

Because your insurer can get the DMV records out f Tallahasie faster than you can, and get her name and address and the name of her nsurance carrier.

Well, which is it? Under C you stat ou can get her name and address. Under D o ome up with a bunch of "yes, but...." reasons why you can't do it.

Also. go back to the local PD and the community realtions folks or the plain old old fashioned desk sargent and demand that a police report be ritten and that the cops run her plate for registered owner name and address and isurance carrier.

The person who called everyone half wits must be some liberal. They think that no matter if someone runs into a parked car, a landscape boulder, a light pole, or a 100 year old tree, it is the fault of someone for putting the object there, and no fault of the driver who couldn't control their car.

No one is responsible for anything! That's the current mentality.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" whine ................... snork ............ snivel ................. wheeze ..................

Steve

What is t be gained by reportin it. ?????

About $ 700.00 including installation osts, per the OP.

Because the OP's insurer can get the DMV records out of Tallahasie faster than the OP can, and get the miscreant's name and address and the name of her insurance carrier.

And it doesn't contitute a "claim". It does demonstrate to the OP's insurer trhat the OP doesn't let little things "slide" and doesn't make silly claims to the OP's inurer.

Florida like all states will have a mandatory reporting law for property damage. IE if property damage in an MVA is above $ X.oo, the drivers must report it to local cops and / or state DMV. A driver's failure to report property damage is a misdemeanor.

Where I live the threshold amount is $ 400.00

Given that you hav abut $ 00.00 damage including a contractor t renstall the post and fix he ruts and tears in the grass which you originally reported, another visit to the desk sargeant at your local PD might be in order. Looks t me like he miscreant might be violating a crminal misdemeanor statute. Also, leaving the scenr of an accdent without identifying herself is a misdemeanor violation in most states.

Florida like all states will have a mandatory reporting law for property damage. IE if property damage in an MVA is above $ X.oo, the drivers must report it to local cops and / or state DMV. A driver's failure to report property damage is a misdemeanor.

Where I live the threshold amount is $ 400.00

Given that you have about $ 700.00 damage including a contractor to reinstall the post and fix the ruts and tears in the grass which you originally reported (micreant "plowed through yard"), another visit to the desk sargeant at your local PD might be in order. Looks to me like the miscreant might be violating a crminal misdemeanor statute. Also, leaving the scene of a property damage accident without identifying herself is a misdemeanor violation in most states.

I think the issue is that you can't put an obstruction that could cause injury on a right of way. Most rural mailboxes are on placed just off the roadway but still on the right of way on city, county or state property. If the carrier would deliver to a box 26 feet from the centerline of the road, I'd have put up the I-Beam.

Bob