What to Do After a Product Injury in Summerville
Treatment comes first. While you are in the hospital, someone at home can make sure the product stays put and handle most of the rest.
- 911 first. Describe for the ER team how the device or part hurt you, then stick with the surgeon's and therapist's schedule.
- Guard the item. Leave it unrepaired and uncleaned in the garage or a shed, and get advice before it goes back to any seller. If it is a swollen battery or a leaking can, let the fire department say how to store it.
- The carton and the paperwork count too. A photo of the sticker with the model and serial numbers is useful.
- Take dated pictures of your wounds week by week.
- Ask for any report from the fire department, police or store manager who responded.
- Write down how you were using it, how long you had it and anything odd before it failed.
- Wait before signing or shipping anything. Many people talk to a lawyer first.
Keep any recall notice with the date it arrived.
Product Injuries Around Summerville
Product injuries around Summerville can involve a lithium battery that catches fire in a garage, a generator running during a summer storm outage, a lawn mower or pressure washer, a car part that fails on I-26, a space heater on a cold night, or a machine on a job site.
What Makes a Product Defective
South Carolina product liability claims commonly involve manufacturing defects, design defects or inadequate warnings or instructions.2
- Manufacturing: one unit came off the line wrong.
- Design: every unit shares the same dangerous flaw.
- Warnings: the label or manual left out what a user needed to know.
Depending on the facts, claims may proceed under strict liability, negligence or warranty theories.2 A business that regularly sells a product can be responsible when one it sold in a defective, unreasonably dangerous condition reaches the user without substantial change and injures them.1 A design claim generally requires a feasible alternative design that would have made the product safer.4
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
How Long You Have
Most South Carolina injury lawsuits involving defective products must be filed within three years.3 Some warranty claims and claims under other laws may have different deadlines. An insurance claim, contacting the manufacturer or waiting for a recall generally does not stop the clock.56 If a town, county or state agency is part of the picture, its own deadline may come sooner.7
The statewide page covers South Carolina product liability in more depth.
Talk With Us
Plenty of people blame themselves after a tool or gadget hurts them. Our first step is hearing how you came to own it, how you were using it and the moment it failed.
Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. We take cases across South Carolina, including Summerville. If the product started a fire, see burn injuries around Summerville.
We are glad to hear about the item and see the photos.
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
Can we start with a phone call?
Yes. The first conversation can happen by phone. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston.
If a product hurt me, does that mean it was defective?
No. Getting hurt is not, by itself, proof of a legal defect. A business that regularly sells a product can be responsible when one it sold in a defective, unreasonably dangerous condition injures the user.1 For a design defect, the injured person generally must show a feasible alternative design that would have made it safer.4
The e-bike was a gift. Can I still bring a claim?
Possibly. A business that regularly sells a product can be responsible even if the user did not buy from it.1 Someone hurt using a borrowed or gifted item may have a claim, depending on the defect and what happened.
The manufacturer wants to pick up the product. Should I let them?
Slow down. Whatever broke may be the single best proof of what went wrong, and a company courier won't bring it back. Get the request by email and talk with a lawyer first.
Can I wait to see if the company fixes things?
You can talk with them, but time keeps passing. The filing limit is for a lawsuit, and a claim with the company's insurer does not stop it.6 Read anything closely before you sign.
Sources
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
