First Steps After a Product Injury in North Charleston
Care first. Family can secure the product.
- Call 911. Tell the ER what the product did.
- Keep every follow-up.
- Don't toss, fix, clean or return it.
- Damaged battery or chemical leak? Get professional help.
- Keep the box, manual, labels and receipt.
- Model number? Serial? Write both.
- Photograph injuries as they heal.
- Ask the fire department or store for its report.
- Note how you used it and for how long.
- Save any recall notice with its date.
Product Injuries Around North Charleston
In North Charleston, that might be an e-bike battery that catches fire in an apartment off Rivers Avenue, a space heater in an older house near Park Circle, a tire that blows out on I-26, or a pallet jack that fails on a warehouse floor along Palmetto Commerce Parkway. A work injury from a bad machine can involve both workers' comp and a product claim.
South Carolina Law on Defective Products
Kinds of Defects
South Carolina product liability claims commonly involve manufacturing defects, design defects, or inadequate warnings or instructions. Depending on the facts, claims may proceed under strict liability, negligence or warranty theories, and manufacturers and other businesses in the product's distribution chain may be responsible.2
In South Carolina, a business that regularly sells a product can be responsible when one it sold in a defective, unreasonably dangerous condition reaches a user or consumer without substantial change and injures them.1 To prove a product's design was defective, the injured person generally must show a feasible alternative design that would have made it safer, considering cost, safety and how well it works.4
Time to File
Most South Carolina personal injury lawsuits involving defective products must be filed within three years.3 Certain warranty claims and claims governed by other laws may have different deadlines. Opening an insurance claim, contacting the manufacturer or waiting for a recall generally does not stop the filing deadline.56 Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter.7
More on product liability 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.
Talk With Us
When something breaks and hurts you, it's natural to wonder if you misused it. Tell us what it was and what happened.
We take cases across South Carolina, including North Charleston. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. If it caught fire, see our North Charleston burn injury page.
South Carolina Law on This
- In South Carolina, a business that regularly sells a product can be responsible when one it sold in a defective, unreasonably dangerous condition reaches a user or consumer without substantial change and injures them, even if it used all possible care and the user did not buy from it.1
- South Carolina product liability claims commonly involve manufacturing defects, design defects, or inadequate warnings or instructions. Depending on the facts, claims may proceed under strict liability, negligence or warranty theories, and manufacturers and other businesses in the product's distribution chain may be responsible.2
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.3
- To prove a product's design was defective in South Carolina, the injured person generally must show a feasible alternative design that would have made it safer, considering cost, safety and how well it works.4
- Most South Carolina personal injury lawsuits involving defective products must be filed within three years. Certain warranty claims and claims governed by other laws may have different deadlines. Opening an insurance claim, contacting the manufacturer or waiting for a recall generally does not stop the filing deadline.5
- 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.6
- 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.7
Frequently Asked Questions
It hurt me, so it was defective, right?
Not by itself. The product has to have been in a defective, unreasonably dangerous condition, and that defect has to have caused the injury.1 To prove a product's design was defective in South Carolina, the injured person generally must show a feasible alternative design that would have made it safer, considering cost, safety and how well it works.4
My brother bought it, not me. Can I still bring a claim?
Possibly. A business can be responsible even if it used all possible care and the user did not buy from it.1 Borrowed or gifted items can still lead to a claim.
The manufacturer wants to collect the product. Should I let it go?
Pause first. That item may be your strongest proof. Get their request in writing. Photograph everything. Many people check with a lawyer before handing it over.
What if I just let the company make it right?
Do I have to come downtown to talk?
The first conversation can happen by phone. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston, south of North Charleston by way of I-26 or Rivers Avenue. When getting to King Street is hard, we can come to the hospital, to your home or to another place that's easier for you.
Sources
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
