How long do you have to file a personal injury suit in South Carolina?
When you are injured in South Carolina, you only have a limited time to file your personal injury suit. Bottom line. Depending on what your injury is, or what type of suit you are filing, will affect the time that you have the bring suit.
The set amount of time that you have to file you suit is referred to as the “statute of limitations.” There are even certain circumstances where if the person becomes aware, or should have become aware of the injury. This is found under any federal or state rule called the “Discovery Rule.”
Most importantly, South Carolina statute of limitations laws may differ from those of other states. Here is the comprehensive list of how long a person has after having a personal injury occur in their life to file suit in South Carolina:
1: If the claim is one of negligence, such as a car accident, or a slip and fall case, you have three years from the date of injury to file suit.
2. If the plaintiff wishes to file a civil suit against the defendant for assault or battery, they have three years to file suit from the date of incident.
3. If there is a claim the plaintiff is making for defamation, they have two years after the defendant “publicized” the false statement to bring suit. This personal injury is more one towards reputation.
4. All strict liability claims, meaning that there is no fault on part of the defendant, but he is still forced to pay, must be brought within three years.
5. If there is an injury due to a product malfunction, under a South Carolina product’s liability claim, the plaintiff has three years to bring suit since the date of injury.
6. Lastly, when the victim/plaintiff is killed in a wrongful accident, the family or estate of the victim has three years to bring suit against the defendant.
If you have become victim to any of the aforementioned injuries listed above, contact the personal injury attorneys at Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP toll-free at 877-374-5999 for more information.