Medical Professional Liability Insurance in South Carolina

South Carolina at a glance

Presuit requirement

Notice of intent to file suit plus mandatory mediation conference

Must be served with a qualified-expert affidavit before the complaint is filed in court.

Damages-cap posture

Noneconomic damages capped per defendant, with an aggregate ceiling per occurrence

Figures adjust periodically — confirm the current schedule with counsel.

Presuit affidavit

Expert affidavit establishing at least one negligent act or omission

Accompanies the notice of intent to file suit.

Licensing board

South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners

Handles discipline separately from the pre-suit mediation process and civil resolution.

Notice and mediation come before the lawsuit itself

South Carolina requires a claimant to serve a notice of intent to file suit, supported by an expert affidavit, and then attend a mandatory pre-suit mediation conference before the complaint can be filed in court. This front-loaded process is meant to resolve or narrow disputes before litigation costs accumulate, and it changes the practical timeline for engaging defense counsel compared with states where mediation is optional or comes later.

A per-defendant cap with an aggregate ceiling

South Carolina caps noneconomic damages on a per-defendant basis, with a separate aggregate limit applying when multiple defendants are found liable for the same occurrence, and the figures adjust periodically. Because the cap structure distinguishes between individual providers and institutional defendants, how a claim is pled — and how many parties are named — can materially affect the exposure calculation, which is a reason to confirm the current schedule with counsel rather than rely on a prior year's figure.

Expert affidavit requirement tied to the notice of intent

The notice of intent to file suit must be accompanied by an affidavit from a qualified expert establishing at least one negligent act or omission, a requirement that functions similarly to but is procedurally distinct from an affidavit-of-merit rule used elsewhere. Given the concentration of hospital systems around the Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville corridors, sourcing a qualifying expert on the front end is a routine part of case evaluation.

Licensure sits with the Board of Medical Examiners

The South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners investigates complaints and disciplines licensees separately from the pre-suit process and any civil resolution. A malpractice policy's defense duty is typically limited to the civil claim, so a group facing board involvement should confirm whether separate licensure-defense coverage applies.

Who we write this for in South Carolina

Medical malpractice FAQs for South Carolina