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South Carolina Car Insurance Minimum Requirements

South Carolina requires at least 25/50/25 liability coverage. That is $25,000 for injuries to one person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage.

Shorthand
25/50/25

Unchanged since January 1, 2007 (2006 Act No. 395). S. 244 would have doubled the limits to 50/100/50 two years after enactment; it passed the Senate in March 2025, went to House Judiciary on April 3, 2025 and went no further before the session ended. A separate bill, H. 3267, would have added a $150,000 limit for bodily injury resulting in death without touching 25/50/25; it stayed in committee too. Neither became law, so the figures still stand.

Bodily injury — per person
$25,000
Bodily injury — per accident
$50,000
Property damage
$25,000
Uninsured / underinsured motorist
Uninsured motorist required; underinsured must be offered

Uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory and must match the liability minimums (25/50/25). The uninsured motorist property damage part may exclude the first $200 of the loss, so most policies carry a $200 deductible on it. Insurers must also offer, at your option, extra uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage up to your liability limits — but you are not required to buy either.

Personal injury protection (PIP)
Not required

South Carolina is a tort state and mandates no personal injury protection. Section 38-77-140 requires liability only; Section 38-77-150 adds uninsured motorist coverage. Medical payments coverage is sold separately.

Property damage minimum — where South Carolina sits
South Carolina sets $25,000 — higher than 23 of the 51 jurisdictions on this site. The range runs from $5,000 to $50,000.$5,000$50,000

South Carolina sets $25,000 — higher than 23 of the 51 jurisdictions on this site. The range runs from $5,000 to $50,000.

How South Carolina compares with every other state

What these numbers buy you

Those first two numbers are two different walls, and drivers regularly mistake them for one. $25,000 is the most the policy pays for any single person's injuries. $50,000 is the ceiling for everyone hurt in the same crash put together. Injure one person badly and $25,000 is all your insurer owes, however large the bill. Injure three people and they divide $50,000 between them. Anything a court awards above those lines is yours to pay, and it does not go away when the policy runs out.

The $25,000 of property damage cover is the figure drivers look at last and need first. It pays for what you hit — the other car, a guardrail, a storefront — and nothing else. Only 2 states on this site set a higher one. Whatever the repair or replacement actually costs above $25,000 is not covered by this policy, and the difference is a debt in your name rather than your insurer's.

None of this is what South Carolina drivers actually spend. The average premium written per insured vehicle here was $386 in 2023, 33rd highest of 51 states and DC — and that average covers policies far above the legal floor, not the bare minimum on this page.

Carrying the minimum is legal, not safe. It is the line below which South Carolina will not let you drive — and the penalties for falling under it are on the driving uninsured page.

Common questions

Is uninsured motorist coverage required in South Carolina?

Uninsured motorist required; underinsured must be offered.

Is PIP required in South Carolina?

Not required.

Is full coverage required in South Carolina?

No. Collision and comprehensive — the two coverages people usually mean by "full coverage" — are not part of what South Carolina law requires. A lender or leasing company will usually require them until the car is paid off.

Every statute cited for South Carolina

What changed

Why the rule looks like this

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.