It's bound to happen during a snowstorm, a plow driver hitting a mailbox while cleaning up the road. It might upset you when you find out who pays for it.

For those who sit behind the wheel of a truck plowing down the street, hitting a mailbox or even clipping a mirror on a car is surely a nightmare. However, doing such is also just very common. Another thing worth knowing, with how loud the plow is, the driver may not even know they hit something while clearing the road of snow. There is a bigger question here though.

If A Mailbox Gets Clipped By A Snow Plow, Who Pays For It?

Let's take the logical approach and let's also assume your mailbox is positioned correctly in accordance with the law, why would you pay for the damage? Now, of course, it makes all the sense in the world that the city or state would take care of the expense to fix your broken property. Not so fast though.

The Truth Of The Matter

When you begin talking facts, and law, New York will not replace your mailbox. If a snowplow driver clips the mailbox with the blade of the plow, the damage is on the property owner according to the New York State Senate. However, they make that clear in a somewhat vague way.

You might ask yourself, what about local municipalities. Ultimately, they could take care of the damages if they want to, but they aren't required to by New York State law, so many of them won't.

What Will A Municipality Do?

That is a tricky question. Many will offer to repair the one knocked over, but not replace it. At the end of the day, they really aren't even required to do that either.

Has your mailbox ever been knocked down by a snowplow?