What to do after a car accident in South Carolina

Getting rear-ended on I-26 or clipped at a Charleston intersection leaves you rattled and unsure what happens next. The general steps (check for injuries, call 911, photograph everything, see a doctor) hold anywhere. What changes from state to state are the rules that decide whether you get paid and how long you have to act. Here is what South Carolina law actually says.

Report the crash, then get the report

Call law enforcement to the scene of any injury crash and let the officer file a report. Once it's filed, you can buy a copy from the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for $10, online, by mail, or in person using Form FR-50.¹ The online lookup only reaches crashes that happened on or after March 22, 2012.¹ We cover the full retrieval process on our South Carolina crash report page.

South Carolina is an at-fault state, and your own share of blame matters

South Carolina is a traditional fault (tort) state, so the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the harm.² There is no no-fault system here, which ties directly into the insurance rules further down.

Your own conduct can cut your recovery. Since the Supreme Court's 1991 decision in Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., South Carolina has followed modified comparative negligence: you can recover as long as your share of fault is not greater than the other driver's, and your award drops by your own percentage.³ At 50% fault you still collect half your damages. At 51% you collect nothing. Adjusters know exactly where that line sits, which is why how fault gets documented in the first hours can decide the whole case.

You have three years, with a few exceptions

The deadline on a South Carolina injury claim is three years from the date of the crash under S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-3-530(5).⁴ Property damage claims, including the hit to your car's resale value, run on the same three-year track under Section 15-3-530(4).⁴ Miss it and the court will almost certainly dismiss the case no matter how badly you were hurt.

A couple of things pause that clock. If the injured person is a minor or under a legal disability, the limitations period is tolled until that status ends.⁴ Claims against a government entity are a separate story: they fall under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, which carries its own shorter deadlines and notice requirements, so don't assume you have the full three years if a city bus or a state vehicle was involved.

What your car insurance must cover, and what it won't

Every South Carolina auto policy has to carry at least 25/50/25 in liability: $25,000 for bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage, under S.C. Code Ann. Section 38-77-140.⁵ Those are floors, and they run out fast in a serious wreck.

Because so many drivers carry only the minimum, uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory in South Carolina at those same 25/50/25 limits under Section 38-77-150.⁶ Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage works differently. Your insurer must offer it up to your own liability limits, but you're allowed to reject it in writing under Section 38-77-160.⁶ If you never signed that rejection, pull your policy, because UIM is often what pays when the at-fault driver's minimum limits fall short of your medical bills.

One thing South Carolina does not require is personal injury protection. Section 38-77-144 states outright that no PIP coverage is mandated under the state's auto insurance laws.⁷ Medical payments coverage is an optional add-on you can buy but don't have to. And because this isn't a no-fault state, there's no quick PIP filing window to miss; your path to payment runs through the at-fault driver's insurer or your own UM or UIM coverage.

There is no cap on your actual damages

In an ordinary crash case, South Carolina puts no cap on compensatory damages. Your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering are not limited by statute. The $350,000 noneconomic cap you may have read about applies only to medical malpractice claims, not car wrecks, under S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-32-220.⁸

Punitive damages, the kind meant to punish especially reckless conduct, are the exception. The ceiling is the greater of three times your compensatory damages or $500,000, rising to four times or $2,000,000 for conduct driven by financial gain or serious enough to be a felony, under Section 15-32-530.⁹ That cap disappears entirely in three situations: the defendant intended to harm you, was convicted of a felony arising from the crash, or was under the influence of alcohol or drugs when it happened.⁹ That last exception carries real weight in drunk-driving cases.

Distracted driving is now a primary offense

As of 2026, holding your phone while driving is illegal in South Carolina. The Hands-Free and Distracted Driving Act (2025 Act No. 40, signed May 12, 2025) rewrote Section 56-5-3890 to bar holding or physically supporting a phone or other device while operating a vehicle, and it's a primary offense, meaning an officer can pull you over for that alone.¹⁰ The law took effect September 1, 2025. Police issued warnings only through late February 2026; since February 28, 2026 they've been writing tickets, $100 for a first offense and $200 plus two license points for a second offense within three years.¹¹ If the driver who hit you was holding a phone, that violation is strong evidence of negligence.

Drunk drivers, and the bar that overserved them

Beyond the uncapped punitive damages against an impaired driver noted above, South Carolina lets you go after the business that overserved. Under the state's dram shop rules, a bar or restaurant that knowingly serves someone already intoxicated can be held liable when that person then causes a crash.¹² A significant change took effect January 1, 2026. Under 2025 Act No. 42, when a drunk driver is also found at fault, the establishment's share is now capped at 50% of the victim's actual damages, and all servers must complete state-approved alcohol training.¹²¹³

A note for motorcyclists

South Carolina's helmet rule is only partial. Riders and passengers under 21 must wear a DPS-approved helmet with a chin strap under Section 56-5-3660, but anyone 21 or older can legally ride without one.¹⁴ Going helmetless when you're of age does not bar your claim, though an insurer may raise it against your head-injury damages. Lane-splitting, riding between lanes of traffic, is illegal statewide under Section 56-5-3640, and doing it can shift fault onto the rider.¹⁴

Getting help

If your car took real damage, the fight is usually about proving what it lost. Our diminished value guide for South Carolina covers recovering the drop in a repaired vehicle's resale value. When the injuries or the insurance dispute get serious enough that you want someone in your corner, you can find a local attorney through our legal directory.

This is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice.

Sources

SCDMV, Collision Reports. https://www.dmv.sc.gov/Vehicle-Owners/Collision-Reports
South Carolina Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance FAQ. https://online.doi.sc.gov/Eng/Public/faqs/autofaq.aspx
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. Section 15-3-530. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c003.php
S.C. Code Ann. Section 38-77-140. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php
S.C. Code Ann. Sections 38-77-150 and 38-77-160. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php
S.C. Code Ann. Section 38-77-144. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php
S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-32-220. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c032.php
S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-32-530. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c032.php
2025 Act No. 40 (H.3276), amending S.C. Code Ann. Section 56-5-3890. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3276.htm
SCDPS, Hands Free SC. https://scdps.sc.gov/handsfree
2025 Act No. 42 (H.3430), Tort Reform and Liquor Liability. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3430.htm
South Carolina Department of Revenue, ABL Updates: How H.3430 Impacts Your Business. https://dor.sc.gov/alcohol-beverage-licensing-abl/abl-updates-how-h3430-impacts-your-business
S.C. Code Ann. Sections 56-5-3660 and 56-5-3640. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php