What to Do if Your Mailbox is Broken
September 17, 2024
There are several ways you might end up with a broken mailbox. Perhaps you were the victim of vandalism or theft. Or maybe a driver lost control on an icy road and crashed into it. Often mailbox damage comes from a less dramatic source—bad weather or simply wear and tear over time.
No matter how it happened, an unserviceable mailbox is not a matter to be taken lightly. You must act quickly to ensure that your mail delivery will continue as normal. Otherwise, you could miss out on important bills and other correspondence.
Dealing with a broken mailbox can be an overwhelming experience. You might not know what steps to take to resolve the situation, or who is responsible for repairs. Fortunately, we at Salsbury Industries have you covered. Read on to learn who exactly is responsible for fixing and replacing your mailbox, what will happen to your mail and where it will go, and where to get new mailboxes.
Who is Responsible for Fixing a Broken Mailbox?
The first step to take is figuring out who exactly is responsible for fixing your mailbox. There are a few different factors you need to take into account to ascertain this, including the type of community you live in and the type of mailbox you use to receive your mail.
In a residential neighborhood where you own the mailbox (like a curbside mailbox), you are responsible for repairs. Conversely, if you live in an apartment building, that responsibility will typically fall on your landlord. If this is your situation, you will want to be in touch with your landlord about the issue as soon as possible.
Things get a bit more complicated with community mailboxes. If the property owner purchased the mailbox, then they are responsible for fixing it. If the mailbox is maintained by the USPS, then you can technically contact your local post office when you need repairs. However, we would not recommend this course of action. According to USPS’s Postal Operations Manual, “Purchase, installation, and maintenance of mail receptacles are the responsibility of the customer.” So it is best just to alert the property owner about these sorts of problems (or handle the repairs yourself if you are the property owner), though you can always get in touch with your local post office with any questions you may have.
If you are the one responsible for fixing your mailbox, you can find replacement parts on mailboxes.com.
Who is Responsible for Replacing a Broken Mailbox?
The breakdown of who is responsible for replacing a damaged mailbox is the same as described in the previous section. You are expected to replace your own residential mailbox, landlords handle the replacement of mailboxes in an apartment building, and property owners generally are responsible for replacing community mailboxes.
If you are a property owner in need of a new community mailbox, you can find all Salsbury CBUs, 4C’s, and 4B+ mailboxes online at mailboxes.com. We also feature detailed installation instructions for our models and an extensive video library with videos to guide you through the installation of new mailboxes and replacing various parts. Check out our replacement locks for community mailboxes here.
What Happens to My Mail if My Mailbox is Broken?
If your mailbox is damaged, your mail carrier will not be able to deliver your mail. Generally, when you have a broken mailbox, the USPS will inform you that your mailbox is unserviceable. They will hold your mail at the local post office for two weeks while you or the party responsible handles the repairs, and you can pick up your mail there in the interim.
If you need more time to make the repairs, you can also make a request online for the USPS to hold your mail for up to thirty days free of charge. Remember that you can always get in touch with your local post office if you have any questions or concerns.
Where Does My Mail Go if My Mailbox is Broken?
If the USPS concludes that your mailbox is unserviceable, your local post office will hold your mail safely for two weeks. If you or the party responsible fails to fix the mailbox within this time frame, then the post office will likely return the mail to the original senders as undeliverable.
Again, if you run into any obstacles with your repairs, it’s important to maintain an open line of communication with your local post office. That way, you will hopefully be able to avoid issues with your ability to send and receive mail.
Where to Get a New Mailbox
If you are responsible for replacing your mailbox, you may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of figuring out where to go to purchase a new one. The experience of having a broken mailbox is stressful enough, after all, without adding all these new mailbox-related decisions on top of it.
Once again, we at Salsbury Industries have you covered. Whether you’re looking for residential mailboxes, 4C wall-mounted mailboxes for your apartment building, or cluster mailboxes to service your community, you can find a plethora of high-quality options on our website. We offer products that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The ordering process is quick and painless, and most orders ship within one to two business days.
With a multitude of stresses throughout your daily life, having to deal with a broken mailbox may seem like the last straw. Hopefully, this guide has shown you that the process doesn’t have to be as much of a headache as you previously thought. If you go with Salsbury Industries for your replacement mailbox or parts, you will likely end up with a mailbox that is better-looking and more functional than your previous one. There is a good chance that it will require less maintenance as well. So, in the end, dealing with your broken mailbox could ultimately result in less overall stress later down the road.
Click here to browse our mailboxes and provide your residents with a new mailbox that will ensure their mail delivery resumes as normal. With the level of quality that Salsbury Industries provides, it will be no surprise if they much prefer the new mailbox to the old, broken one.
