What to Do After a Serious Injury Near Hilton Head
Medical care comes first. Spread the rest out over days or weeks.
- Keep the care going. After 911 and the ER, follow every step of the plan, whether rehab happens in southern Beaufort County or back home in another state.
- Report numbers. The Sheriff's Office, Bluffton police or a trooper can give you one for a crash. A resort or villa manager may write up a fall or a pool injury, so ask for a copy.
- Photos over time. Week-by-week pictures of the injuries, plus the scene, the car or the hazard if someone can reach it.
- One box for everything. Hospital records, bills, discharge sheets, pay stubs, insurer letters and any broken helmet, clothing or gear.
- A daily log. Pain, what you couldn't do, shifts missed and who had to help. Your partner or a parent can keep it.
- No signatures yet. Get your questions answered before you sign releases or forms from an insurer.
How These Injuries Happen Around Hilton Head
Life-changing injuries in southern Beaufort County can follow a crash on I-95 or US-278, a tractor-trailer wreck near Hardeeville, a boating accident on Calibogue Sound or Port Royal Sound, a fall at a construction site in a growing Bluffton neighborhood, or a cyclist or pedestrian hit on the island. For a family on vacation, the injury can also mean weeks far from home.
How Long You Have to File
Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.1 That limit applies to a lawsuit in court, and an insurance claim does not stop it.2 For a state or local government entity, suit generally must be filed within two years, though a properly filed verified claim may extend it to three years.3 There could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.4
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
What a Claim May Include
Depending on the facts, a claim for a serious injury may include past and future medical care, rehabilitation, lost earnings, reduced earning capacity, ongoing personal care, home changes, pain and suffering and other losses. What is available depends on the evidence and the law, and no particular recovery can be promised.5 Because future needs matter, medical, work and financial records are worth keeping in order.
Helping a Loved One Through It
A family can end up juggling a hospital in one place, therapy in another and work in between. A spiral notebook by the phone helps: who called, from where, on what day, and what they said. So does a running list of what the family gives up, from unpaid days off to gas for the drive to rehab.
Talk With Us
An injury like this reaches everyone in the house. Beyond the diagnosis, we want to know who you were before it: the job, the routines, the things you can't do now. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Hilton Head, Bluffton and the rest of southern Beaufort County. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. For more, see South Carolina catastrophic injury claims, brain injuries near Hilton Head and spinal cord injuries near Hilton Head.
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
- Under South Carolina's discovery rule, the three-year period for most personal injury lawsuits generally begins when a person knew, or through reasonable diligence should have known, that they had a potentially actionable injury. A formal diagnosis is not necessarily required to start the period, and a later diagnosis does not automatically restart the deadline, but when the injury reasonably could have been discovered depends on the circumstances.7
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes an injury catastrophic?
There's no official definition. People use the term for harm that reshapes a life for years, sometimes permanently: a damaged spinal cord, a traumatic brain injury, losing a limb, deep burns.
My husband can't make decisions right now. Can I handle his claim?
You can keep the binder, field the calls and line up his care. Being his spouse does not automatically give you legal authority to settle a claim or make binding decisions for him; a power of attorney, a court-appointed conservator or another arrangement may be needed.6
Does an open insurance claim protect the filing date?
No. The time limit is for filing a lawsuit in court, and an insurance claim does not stop it.2
Should I wait until treatment is over to call a lawyer?
No. A call from a hospital room or a rehab gym is fine. Getting better stays the priority.
The full extent of the injury wasn't found right away. Does my time start later?
A later diagnosis does not automatically restart the deadline. The period generally begins when a person knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, about a potentially actionable injury, and when that was depends on the facts.7
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 § 15-3-535
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
