Lockable mailboxes are one thing, but if you’re really security conscious, nothing beats a mail slot or a wall mounted mailbox.
With identity fraud on the rise, more and more Americans are looking to these as the solution. But what should you know before you buy?
The first thing to bear in mind is that a mail slot or wall mounted mailbox is only useful if your local postal service will deliver to it.
This is usually the case in urban areas, but is unlikely to apply in suburban and rural settings where long driveways make it impractical.
Check with your local postal service to ask them what the local rules are and make sure that delivery of this type is an option for you.
Types of mailbox which involve delivery directly to your house can be useful for a number of reasons.
They’re particularly good for elderly or disabled people who have difficulty getting outside, especially in inclement weather.
They’re also good if you receive a lot of urgent mail but have a daily delivery which arrives at unreliable times, so that you want to be able to check your mailbox often.
They are also better at protecting your mail from rain damage.
Mail slots can be problematic if you go away for long periods of time, as you may return to find that you can hardly open your door for accumulated mail.
This is especially awkward if you regularly receive a lot of junk mail.
One way around this is to affix a mailbox – or even a simple basket – to the inside of your front door, so that mail posted through the mail slot accumulates there rather than falling onto the floor.
Wall mounted mail boxes can be very attractive and can add an air of sophistication to your property.
Make sure that you mount them such that they’re easy to access without doing dangerous things like leaning over the side of your steps, and position them so that any mail which is dropped as they’re opened will land somewhere safe and accessible.
With proper care, mail slots and wall mounted mailboxes can be the ideal mailbox types for the security conscious citizen. In a changing world, they make more sense all the time.
