Owners, Renters, and Maintenance Companies Are Responsible for Property
Regardless of whether the accident occurs at a commercial (e.g. office building, restaurant) or residential location (e.g. apartment, beach house), the owner, renter, and any company who performed construction or maintenance on the property may be liable. These cases are very fact specific, but South Carolina law generally follows the age-old rule that people are responsible for their actions. Property owners must fix or warn people of dangerous conditions. Renters must not endanger their guests. Companies that work on site must meet the standards and follow the rules of their industry.
Filing Claims with Multiple Insurance Companies After Injury
Depending on whose negligence contributed to the injury, a claim may be filed with multiple insurance companies. For example, some people carry renters insurance. Most landlords will also have either a homeowners' or commercial policy. Likewise, if it was a construction or maintenance company's negligence that caused the accident, their insurance company should be notified. As you can tell, there is often a lot of finger pointing between the various potential defendants. In most instances, the insurance companies want to blame each other, but rarely do they want to step up and take responsibility for the harm that has occurred.
Fortunately, South Carolina's premises liability laws - which govern accidents on rental properties - demand that innocent people be made 100% whole. Multiple insurance companies may have to contribute for damages such as medical bills and severe physical pain, and in the end, regardless of who pays what, it must add up to 100% of an innocent person's losses. As the saying goes, "anything less than full justice is injustice." In fact, that is not just a saying, but rather the law of South Carolina.
For more free answers to questions regarding your accident case, simply call the South Carolina personal injury attorney team at my office today at one of our convenient statewide numbers, or use our 24/7 live chat feature. We look forward to helping you as we have countless others.
Our offices are conveniently located in Columbia and Myrtle Beach, and we proudly serve the Sumter and Florence areas, as well as the entire state of South Carolina. Call us today at 803-790-2800 (Columbia, SC) / 843-427-2800 (Myrtle Beach, SC), or start a live chat 24/7 with a real, live person to arrange a free and confidential consultation.