South Carolina car accident deadlines and Greenville County courts

The main deadlines at a glance

These are general rules. Tolling and other exceptions can change a specific deadline, so confirm yours with a South Carolina lawyer.

When the clock starts

For personal injury claims under § 15-3-530(5), the action must be started within three years "after the person knew or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known that he had a cause of action" (S.C. Code § 15-3-535). In most crashes, injuries are known the same day, so the safest assumption is that the clock starts on the crash date.

Minors and people under a disability

If the injured person was under 18 or "insane" when the claim arose, the time of that disability generally isn't counted. But the extension is limited: it can't extend the period by more than five years for disabilities other than infancy, and in no case longer than one year after the disability ends (S.C. Code § 15-3-40). That section also applies to Tort Claims Act actions. How these limits work for a particular child's claim needs a lawyer's review. Don't assume a child's claim can wait until adulthood.

Wrongful death and survival claims

• Who brings it: a wrongful death action is brought by or in the name of the executor or administrator. It is for the benefit of the spouse and children; if there are none, the parents; and if none, the heirs (S.C. Code § 15-51-20).
• Damages: the jury may award damages proportioned to the injury to the beneficiaries, including exemplary damages when the wrongful act resulted from recklessness, wilfulness, or malice (§ 15-51-40).
• Survival claims: separately, the injured person's own claims for injuries survive their death and can be pursued by their personal representative (S.C. Code § 15-5-90).
• Court approval of settlements: only a duly appointed personal representative can settle these claims. If no lawsuit is pending, the representative must petition the probate or circuit court to approve a proposed settlement (§ 15-51-42). In Greenville County, estates are handled by the Greenville County Probate Court.

Claims against a government entity

Crashes involving a city, county, or state vehicle, or a claim about road design or maintenance, fall under the S.C. Tort Claims Act, which has its own rules:

• Verified claim (optional): a claim describing the circumstances, extent, time and place of the loss, the persons involved, and the amount may be filed with the employing state agency or the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, with the employing political subdivision, or with the Attorney General if the proper defendant is unclear. It must be received within one year after the loss was or should have been discovered (§ 15-78-80).
• Response time: the State Fiscal Accountability Authority or political subdivision has 180 days from filing to decide whether to allow or disallow the claim (§ 15-78-80(e)).
• Lawsuit deadline: two years, or three years if a verified claim was filed first (§ 15-78-110).
• Caps: generally $300,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence (higher limits apply to claims caused by government-employed physicians or dentists), with no punitive damages or prejudgment interest (§ 15-78-120).

Damages limits to know about

• Punitive damages: generally capped at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000, with higher caps and exceptions in specific circumstances described in the statute (S.C. Code § 15-32-530).
• Government defendants: the Tort Claims Act caps above.
• Underinsured coverage and caps: UIM coverage can apply to damages "in excess of any damages cap or limitation imposed by statute" (§ 38-77-160).

Greenville County courts

• Circuit Court (Court of Common Pleas): Greenville County Courthouse, 305 E. North Street, Greenville. Civil filings go through the Greenville County Clerk of Court. Court locations and information are also in the S.C. Judicial Branch courthouse directory.
• Magistrate Court: magistrates have concurrent civil jurisdiction over claims for injury to the person or property of $7,500 or less (S.C. Code § 22-3-10). That can fit a small property-damage claim.
• Probate Court: appoints personal representatives of estates. It is also one of the courts that can approve wrongful death and survival settlements (§ 15-51-42; Greenville County Probate Court).

Practical advice on deadlines

• Insurance negotiations don't pause the statute of limitations.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist lawsuits require serving the pleadings on your insurer (§§ 38-77-150(B), -160). That's another reason not to wait until the last weeks.
• Evidence such as trucking logs and surveillance video has much shorter lives than the legal deadlines. See truck crashes and the after-a-crash timeline.

Dates to write down now

• The crash date (the usual start of the three-year clock);
• the date you received the FR-10, and the date you mailed it back (§ 56-9-350);
• the date of death, if a family member died (§ 15-3-530(6));
• the birth date of any injured child (§ 15-3-40);
• if a government vehicle or road condition was involved, the date you learned of the loss, which starts the Tort Claims Act periods (§§ 15-78-80, -110).

Give these dates to any lawyer you consult and ask them to confirm the controlling deadline in writing.