First Steps for the Family
Early on, the person who was hurt is likely in surgery, an ICU or a rehab hospital. A spouse, parent or friend usually takes on this list.
- Keep every appointment. Post-surgery checks, PT, OT and inpatient rehab all matter.
- Find the report. Whether deputies, police or a business manager wrote it up, request a copy and note the number.
- Photograph the hazard. A broken rail, a missing guard on a roof or a rotten dock board may be fixed within days.
- Get phone numbers. Anyone who saw it, the foreman or manager, and the people who rushed to help.
- Keep a cost log. Mileage, parking, equipment, help at home and every bill.
- Hold off on signing. Many families get legal advice first.
Rehab From the Island
From Johns Island, trips to surgeons and rehab in West Ashley or downtown cross the Stono, often several times a week. Add those miles and the family's missed work to the cost log. Each clinic and therapist keeps a separate file, so ask each for itemized bills, and keep estimates for any changes to the house or car.
Time Limits
Most South Carolina injury claims must be filed within three years.1 The limit is for a lawsuit, and calls and letters with an insurer do not stop it.2 Where a public body is responsible, the window is generally two years, or three with a qualifying verified claim.3 Special rules and damage caps may also apply.4 A lawyer can explain how this fits your situation. The statewide page covers spinal cord injury claims in South Carolina.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Losses a Claim May Include
Depending on the facts, a spinal cord injury claim may seek past and future medical care, rehab, assistive devices, home changes, lost income, reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, and other losses the injury caused. The evidence and the law decide what's available.5
Long-term help with daily life is often part of the picture, which is why the cost log matters.
Talk With Us About What Happened
We start by learning how you lived before the injury: your work, your home, your family and what an ordinary weekend looked like. Then we talk plainly about your options.
When family helps with records and calls, the injured person's wishes stay at the center. A person who can make their own decisions keeps making them. When the injury takes that ability away, a person with legal authority, such as an agent or conservator, may need to step in.6
Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. We take cases across South Carolina, including Johns Island. The first conversation can happen by phone, which is often easiest in the middle of rehab.
For other life-changing injuries, see Johns Island catastrophic injury claims. If it happened on a job site, see Johns Island construction accidents.
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
Doctors can't tell us yet whether movement will come back. Should we wait?
That uncertainty is common early on, but the filing clock keeps running in the meantime, and insurer talks do not stop it.2 So calling a lawyer before the prognosis is settled makes sense.
My son was hurt diving off a dock at a friend's house on the creek. Is the owner responsible?
Not automatically. Questions include what the owner knew about the water depth or the dock, whether a warning was needed, and what your son understood about the risk. South Carolina also has laws that may limit an owner's liability for certain recreational uses.7 The place, the facts and the evidence all matter.
The at-fault driver has very little insurance. Is there anything else?
When the driver's limits fall short, UIM coverage may help.8 Uninsured motorist coverage may apply when the driver has no liability insurance that applies.9 State law generally makes UM coverage mandatory and UIM coverage something insurers must offer but drivers can decline, so each policy has to be checked.10
I fell from a roof while framing a house on the island. What are my options?
Workers' compensation may cover medical care and some lost wages.11 If someone besides your employer was responsible, such as a careless contractor, driver or equipment maker, a separate injury claim may be possible.12 Comp generally requires reporting within 90 days and filing within two years, with exceptions, so get advice soon.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.
