Is South Carolina an At-Fault or No-Fault State?
No — South Carolina is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state.
- Fault system
- At-fault (tort)
The driver who caused the crash, and his insurer, pay. South Carolina has no no-fault system and requires no PIP.
- Comparative negligence rule
- Modified comparative — 51% bar
The bar comes from case law, not a statute: a plaintiff is barred from recovering if his own negligence outweighs the defendant's (Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 1991). Below that, damages fall by his share of fault. Section 15-38-15 builds on that rule and keeps a defendant who is less than 50% at fault from being jointly and severally liable. From January 1, 2026 the trier of fact also apportions fault to a non-party tortfeasor, and the exemption for alcohol-related conduct was removed (2025 Act No. 42).
How South Carolina compares with every other state
What the fault rule decides
In an at-fault state the driver who caused the crash — through their liability insurer — pays for the harm. That is the arrangement in 38 of the 51 jurisdictions on this site, so it is the one most US advice assumes. The practical consequence is that your recovery depends on two things you do not control: how much liability cover the other driver bought, and what share of the blame you are assigned.
Modified comparative fault turns the case into a percentage. On a hypothetical $100,000 of damages — arithmetic, not a figure from South Carolina law — being 20% to blame leaves you $80,000, and being 40% to blame leaves you $60,000. Cross the line at 51% and the award is not reduced, it is gone. 24 of the 50 jurisdictions on this site draw the line in the same place, and the whole dispute after a serious crash tends to be about which side of it you land on.
Every statute cited for South Carolina
What changed
January 1, 2026
Fault can now be apportioned to a non-party, and the alcohol exception is gone
2025 Act No. 42 (H. 3430) rewrote § 15-38-15 for causes of action arising after January 1, 2026. The trier of fact now allocates a percentage of fault to a non-defendant tortfeasor who is properly disclosed, and the carve-out that stripped joint and several protection from conduct "involving the use, sale, or possession of alcohol" was dropped — only wilful, wanton, reckless or intentional conduct, or illicit drug conduct, still triggers full joint and several liability.
S.C. Code § 15-38-15 (version effective January 1, 2026)
Why the rule looks like this
- What Changed in 2026Liability minimums doubled in Hawaii, two states dropped pure comparative fault, New Hampshire stopped inspecting cars, and three crash reporting thresholds moved — a dated account of the 2026 changes, and the ones already signed for 2027 and beyond.
- The One Percentage Point That Decides Your ClaimAcross the states covered on this site there are four different rules for what your own share of the blame does to your claim — and in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, being 1% at fault ends it entirely.
- No-Fault Does Not Mean Nobody Is at FaultNo-fault restricts the right to sue rather than removing it. Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York run it, New Jersey and Pennsylvania let you choose, and Michigan lets every driver pick one of six PIP ceilings — which changes who pays after a crash.
More on South Carolina
Checked against the primary sources above on September 27, 2026. If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it — what we have corrected so far is public.