What to Do After a Spinal Cord Injury in Charleston
A rollover on I-26, a fall from a roof in Summerville, a shallow-water dive off a dock on the Wando: spinal cord injuries change everything in a moment. The first weeks may be spent in surgery, the ICU and inpatient rehab, so most of this falls to a spouse, parent or close friend.
Stick with each piece of the plan, from surgical follow-ups to therapy at a clinic closer to home. Request the crash or incident report from whoever responded, and note the case number. If you can, photograph the scene before it changes: a rotten railing, a missing guardrail on a platform, a dock with no depth marker.
Names matter too: the foreman, the homeowner, the friend who pulled you out of the water. Start a log of costs: miles driven over the Ashley and Cooper bridges to appointments, parking, equipment, home help and each bill. Many families get legal advice before signing anything.
Your Time to File
Most South Carolina injury claims must be filed within three years.1 Months of back-and-forth with an adjuster won't move that date.2 If a government body is involved, the Tort Claims Act generally allows two years, extended to three by a qualifying verified claim.3 Special rules and caps on damages may also apply.4
What a Claim May Include
Depending on the facts, a spinal cord injury claim may include past and future medical care, rehab, assistive devices, home modifications, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering and other losses. What's available depends on the evidence and the law.5
Long-term help with daily life is often part of the picture, which is why that cost log matters: ramps, a wheelchair van, nursing help and mileage add up.
Our South Carolina spinal cord injury page has more.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Talk With Us About What Happened
We'd like to hear how life looked before the injury: the job, the house, the family, the weekends on the water. When relatives help with records and calls, the injured person's wishes stay at the center, and if they can make their own decisions, those decisions are theirs. A spouse, parent or adult child doesn't automatically have legal authority to settle a claim or make binding decisions for an injured adult.6
Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston, and a family member can start with a phone call. See also catastrophic injury claims in Charleston.
Call us and tell us how it happened and what life looks like now.
South Carolina Law on This
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.1
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.2
- Lawsuits under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act generally must be filed within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered. A three-year deadline may apply if a qualifying verified claim was first filed under the Act.3
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.4
- Depending on the circumstances, a South Carolina personal injury claim for a serious injury may include compensation for past and future medical treatment, rehabilitation, assistive devices, ongoing personal care, home modifications, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by the injury. The amount and types of compensation available depend on the evidence and applicable law.5
- In South Carolina, being an injured adult's spouse, parent or adult child does not automatically give someone legal authority to settle a personal injury claim or make binding legal decisions for that person. Depending on the circumstances, authority may come from a valid power of attorney, a court-appointed conservator or another legally recognized arrangement, and a guardian ad litem may be required in certain litigation involving an incapacitated person.6
- A South Carolina property owner is not automatically responsible for a diving or other recreational injury. Liability can depend on the visitor's status, the condition of the property, what the owner knew, warnings, and the injured person's own conduct. South Carolina also has recreational-use laws that may limit property-owner liability in qualifying circumstances, though they do not automatically apply to every private dock or recreational property.7
- Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is optional coverage on your own auto policy that can pay when the at-fault driver's liability limits are too low to cover your losses.8
- Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own auto policy can pay when the at-fault driver has no liability insurance, and in some hit-and-run crashes.9
- South Carolina auto liability policies generally must include uninsured motorist coverage, and insurers must offer underinsured motorist coverage.10
- Most injuries that happen on the job in South Carolina go through the workers' compensation system, which has its own rules, and usually limits suing your own employer.11
- In South Carolina, an employee injured at work may be able to receive workers' compensation benefits and also pursue a personal injury claim against a responsible third party, such as another driver. The workers' compensation insurer may have a right to reimbursement from any settlement or judgment. Special rules and deadlines apply when pursuing both claims.12
- An injured worker in South Carolina generally must tell the employer about a work accident right away, and no later than 90 days after it, to receive workers' compensation, unless an exception applies.13
- A South Carolina workers' compensation claim generally must be filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission within two years after the accident, or after a death it caused. Telling the employer does not count as filing. Occupational diseases and repetitive trauma follow different rules.14
Frequently Asked Questions
The doctors don't know yet if I'll walk again. Should I wait?
Not knowing is common in the early months. The filing deadline keeps running in the meantime, and calls with an insurer do not pause it.2 Calling from inpatient rehab, long before there's a prognosis, is completely fine.
My son was hurt diving off a friend's dock. Is the owner responsible?
Not automatically. A property owner is not automatically responsible for a diving or other recreational injury, and liability can depend on the visitor's status, the property, what the owner knew, warnings and the injured person's own conduct. Recreational-use laws may limit an owner's liability in some situations, though they don't automatically cover every private dock.7
The driver who hit me has a tiny policy. What else is there?
Underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy can pay when the at-fault driver's limits are too low.8 Uninsured motorist coverage can pay when that driver has no liability insurance.9 South Carolina policies generally must include UM, and insurers must offer UIM, so what applies depends on your policies.10
I was hurt on the job. What applies?
Most on-the-job injuries in South Carolina go through workers' compensation.11 An employee injured at work may also be able to pursue a personal injury claim against a responsible third party, such as another driver.12 Comp generally requires notice within 90 days and a claim within two years, with exceptions.1314
Sources
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-80 and 15-78-110
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
- S.C. Code §§ 15-32-210 et seq. (punitive damages); South Carolina tort decisions on compensatory damages
- S.C. Code Title 62, Article 5 (guardianship and conservatorship) and §§ 62-8-101 et seq.; South Carolina powers of attorney law
- S.C. Code § 27-3-10 et seq.
- S.C. Code § 38-77-160
- S.C. Code §§ 38-77-150 and 38-77-170
- S.C. Code §§ 38-77-150 and 38-77-160
- S.C. Code § 42-1-540
- S.C. Code § 42-1-560
- S.C. Code § 42-15-20
- S.C. Code §§ 42-15-20 and 42-15-40
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
