How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in South Carolina?

The value of your personal injury claim depends on several factors, including the nature and extent of your injuries and losses and how they can be proved. Other key factors include whether you share any fault for the accident and how much insurance coverage is available. Your losses may include medical care, lost income, pain and suffering, and how the injury has affected your life.

How much your claim is worth is not calculated the day you contact a lawyer. It depends on facts and evidence that may not be known until your medical treatment is complete. Our South Carolina personal injury lawyers can help you understand what you are facing. Let the team at Armada Law Injury Attorneys guide you through this process, so you can focus on your recovery.

What Factors Help Determine the Value of a Personal Injury Case in South Carolina?

After being injured in an accident, you deserve to be paid back for everything you have lost as a result. To be fully compensated you need evidence to help prove it. That's why your medical records and bills, pay stubs, and your own account of how your life has changed matters. South Carolina law allows you to potentially recover the following types of damages:

South Carolina Injury Case Value at a Glance

These South Carolina laws set the ground rules for what your injury case may be worth, and some of them limit how much money you can recover:

• Shared fault: You can still recover even if you are partially responsible, as long as your share of the fault isn't greater than 50%. Your final recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if your damages are $100,000 and you are found 30 percent at fault, you would recover $70,000.
• Available auto insurance coverage: Drivers must carry auto insurance that provides at least $25,000 of coverage per injured person and $50,000 per crash for bodily injuries, plus $25,000 for property damage. Many drivers carry no more than the minimum amount.
• Punitive damages: In certain circumstances, these are capped at the greater of three times the money awarded for your losses or $500,000, a figure adjusted each year for inflation. This cap does not apply to accidents caused by drunk drivers. Higher limits apply to the most serious misconduct.
• Pain and suffering: There is no cap or formula in an ordinary injury case against a person or business. A cap on these damages does apply to medical malpractice claims.
• Government claims: A claim against a South Carolina state, county, or city government agency (a city bus, a state vehicle, a public building, or a school district) is capped at $300,000 per person and $600,000 per incident, with no punitive damages available, and generally must be filed within two years.
• Seat belts: Not wearing a seat belt isn't treated as carelessness on your part, and it can't be used as evidence in your injury case.

One of our personal injury attorneys can help you understand whether any of these laws affect the value of your settlement.

How Does Being Partly at Fault Change What My Case Is Worth?

You can still recover money in South Carolina even if you were partly responsible for your accident, as long as your share of the fault is 50 percent or less. At 51 percent, you cannot recover anything.

We often see insurance companies try to shift some of the blame for your accident onto you. This is because every percentage point they add reduces what you receive. That's why our team builds a strong, evidence-backed case, so we can fight for the full compensation the law allows you.

Facts That Can Lower the Value of Your Case

The same injury can lead to very different results depending on certain facts, and many of them are in your hands from today forward. These facts can lower the value of your case:

• Gaps in medical treatment: Missed appointments or missing records can lead the insurance company to argue you weren't badly injured. Keep every appointment and ask for copies of your records.
• An early recorded statement: The adjuster may ask for one before you know the full extent of your injury. You can politely say, "I'm not ready to give a recorded statement right now." You are not required to talk to the other party’s insurance adjuster.
• A pre-existing condition: The insurance company may argue an old condition caused your pain. However, this does not release them from responsibility for your new or worsened injuries. Treatment records showing what changed after the injury are the best answer.
• Waiting too long: Evidence fades overtime. In most cases, South Carolina gives you three years to file (S.C. Code Section 15-3-530(5)). Claims against a state, county, or city government agency have a shorter deadline, generally two years (S.C. Code Section 15-78-110). The sooner your case is built, the better.

Insurance Policy Limits Often Affect the Settlement Amount

Every insurance policy has a limit to how much injured South Carolinians can recover after an accident. That amount varies based on the responsible party. For example, personal automobile policies are often limited by the choices of the vehicle owner. Many people chose to have only the state minimum.

If you are involved in an accident with a commercial truck that crosses state lines, the trucking company must carry at least $750,000 in coverage. Many carry even more coverage. Businesses and business vehicles generally carry significant amounts of insurance coverage as well.

A serious injury that keeps you in the hospital for even one night can cost thousands of dollars. If the other party’s insurance doesn’t cover your entire treatment, your own underinsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, can help close that gap. If there is more than one responsible party, there may be an additional insurance policy that has additional coverage to go after. Our attorneys will help you investigate every possible avenue and go after every dollar of coverage available to you.

"Identifying all available insurance coverage is a crucial part of obtaining the right recovery for our injured clients. It can be a complex process, but we are used to navigating it every day Scott Bradley, Attorney and Head of Legal

Why the First Offer Is Not What Your Case Is Worth

Insurance companies often reach out and make an offer to settle your case before you have had time to determine the extent of your injuries and before you have had the medical treatment that you need. It usually does not reflect the potential value of your case. It is also calculated before you have had the chance to consult with a skilled injury attorney.

Our personal injury team never puts a number on your case on day one. Once your treatment is complete and we fully understand the impact of your injury, we begin negotiating relentlessly for full and fair compensation for your losses.

Unfortunately, we have seen many instances where accepting the first offer from the insurance company has cost injured people in the long run. Once you sign that settlement agreement, it almost always ends your case and closes the door on future recovery. If you need additional medical treatment in the future, you may have to pay for that yourself.

If medical bills are piling up and you are missing paychecks because you cannot work, talk to our team first. We will walk you through your options and give you the guidance you need to move forward.

What Comes Out of the Settlement Before It Reaches You

Your settlement amount and the amount you receive will be different. It is important that you understand this early in the process. Here are some things that are paid out of your total settlement amount before you receive your check:

• The attorney's fee. Our firm does not charge a fee upfront. Our fee is a percentage of your settlement, often one-third of the total settlement amount. The written agreement you sign with us explains this clearly.
• Case costs. Any money spent building the case, like medical records, filing fees, and expert reviews, is usually paid back from the settlement.
• Payment of medical bills and expenses. Any unpaid treatment bills are paid from your settlement amount. In most circumstances, payment of the amounts paid by a private health insurance plan, as well as Medicaid or Medicare, must be paid back from your total settlement amount. Health insurance providers will often negotiate or reduce the amount owed. We will handle this process for you.

The remaining amount, after the above is paid, is the amount paid to you. Compensation that you receive for a personal injury is not taxable under federal law. However, punitive damages are taxable.

Find Out What Your Personal Injury Case Might Be Worth

During your first conversation with Armada Law Injury Attorneys, we will discuss what happened, how your treatment is going, and what insurance coverage may be available. We will help you determine what your injury has cost you and understand the full impact on your life. This is your story and you decide how you want to move forward with it. We are here to advocate for you every step of the way. Call us at 833-332-3128 or reach out to our team.