South Carolina lets you recover money after a crash even when part of the wreck was your fault, but only up to a point. The state follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar. If your share of the blame is greater than everyone you're suing combined, you collect nothing. If it's 50% or less, you can still recover, and your award drops by your percentage of fault. That one rule shapes what a claim is worth, and insurance adjusters lean on it hard.
Here's how it actually works in South Carolina, where the rule comes from, and what changes when more than one driver is to blame.
The 51% bar and where it comes from
South Carolina used to be a contributory negligence state, where a driver who was even 1% at fault recovered nothing. That ended with Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., in which the South Carolina Supreme Court adopted comparative negligence for all causes of action arising on or after July 1, 1991.1 Under Nelson, an injured person may recover as long as his own negligence is "not greater than" the defendant's, and the recovery is reduced in proportion to his share of the fault.1
"Not greater than" is the whole ballgame. At exactly 50% you're still on the recovering side of the line. At 51% you are barred.
Put a real number on it. Say a jury values your injuries at $200,000 and finds you 30% responsible for the crash. You collect $140,000, which is the $200,000 minus the 30% charged to you. Move your share to 50% and you take home $100,000. Cross to 51% and you get nothing, no matter how badly you were hurt.
When more than one driver is at fault
Most serious crashes involve blame pointing in several directions, and South Carolina has a statute for splitting it. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15, the jury assigns a percentage of fault to the plaintiff and to each defendant so the numbers total 100%.2 Your 51% bar is measured against the combined fault of everyone you're suing, not each defendant one at a time. So if two other drivers were each 30% at fault and you were 40%, you still recover, because their 60% together beats your 40%.
The statute also decides who pays. A defendant found less than 50% at fault is only severally liable, meaning that driver pays only his own slice of the damages rather than the whole judgment.2 A defendant at 50% or more can be held jointly and severally liable for the full amount. A few kinds of conduct keep full joint-and-several liability in play no matter the percentage: conduct that is willful, wanton, reckless, or intentional, or that involves the illegal or illicit use, sale, or possession of drugs.2
Who counts as a "defendant" here matters too. In Smith v. Tiffany, the Supreme Court held that fault is apportioned only among the plaintiff and the parties actually named as defendants, not an empty chair left by someone who settled and dropped out of the case.3 The Court said it was bound by the plain language of § 15-38-15 even where the result seemed unfair to the remaining defendants.3
What changed on January 1, 2026
If alcohol is anywhere in the crash, pay attention to a recent shift. The General Assembly passed 2025 Act No. 42, effective January 1, 2026, which rewrote parts of § 15-38-15 along with the state's liquor-liability rules.4 The amendment dropped alcohol-related conduct from the list of exceptions that trigger full joint-and-several liability, so those exceptions now cover willful, wanton, reckless, or intentional conduct and illegal drug conduct.4 The same act limits a licensed bar or restaurant's exposure: when both the establishment and a drunk driver are found liable, the licensee is jointly and severally liable for 50% of the plaintiff's actual damages, and servers now have to finish state-approved alcohol training.4 Because these rules are new, a crash from 2025 or earlier may be judged under the older version.
How your percentage of fault actually gets set
Comparative negligence is a jury question, but very few crash claims reach a jury. Fault usually gets negotiated between you (or your attorney) and an insurance adjuster, and the adjuster's opening move is almost always to assign a chunk of the blame to you so the payout shrinks. Since a higher percentage on you directly lowers what you collect, that number is worth fighting over.
The starting evidence is usually the crash report. South Carolina collision reports are held by the SCDMV, which charges $10 for a copy.5 You can read more about pulling one on our South Carolina crash report page. An officer's opinion about who caused the wreck doesn't bind a jury, but it frames the early settlement talks, so it's worth getting the report and checking it for errors. Photos, skid marks, dashcam or surveillance video, and witness accounts all feed the percentage.
Comparative fault reaches your car, not only your body. If your vehicle lost resale value after being wrecked and repaired, a diminished value claim is cut by your share of fault the same way an injury claim is.
The three-year clock
Comparative negligence only helps if you file in time. South Carolina gives you three years from the date of injury to sue for personal injury under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5), and three years for property damage under § 15-3-530(4).6 The clock can pause while the injured person is a minor or under a legal disability.7 Miss the deadline and the fault split never gets litigated, because the claim is gone.
What the reduction leaves you with
South Carolina doesn't cap compensatory damages, economic or noneconomic, in an ordinary car-crash case, so the comparative-fault reduction is usually the main thing standing between the jury's number and your net check. Punitive damages are capped separately, generally at the greater of three times the compensatory award or $500,000, with higher limits or no cap at all for the worst conduct, including a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs.8 One practical ceiling stays fixed regardless of fault: a claim can only reach the at-fault driver's actual coverage, and South Carolina's minimum liability policy is just 25/50/25, which is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries plus $25,000 for property, under § 38-77-140.9
Because the fault percentage drives the money and the 51% cliff is unforgiving, most people with a serious injury talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement or accepting a first offer. You can start with our legal directory.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
-
Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243, 399 S.E.2d 783 (S.C. 1991). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1265650/nelson-v-concrete-supply-company/
-
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15, South Carolina Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c038.php
-
Smith v. Tiffany, Op. No. 27715 (S.C. Apr. 26, 2017). https://law.justia.com/cases/south-carolina/supreme-court/2017/27715.html
-
2025 Act No. 42 (H.3430), amending S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3430.htm
-
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Collision Reports. https://www.dmv.sc.gov/Vehicle-Owners/Collision-Reports
-
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c003.php
-
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-40. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c003.php
-
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-32-530. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c032.php
-
S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-140. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php