South Carolina Senate debate widens over tort, insurance changes in S.244

The South Carolina Senate spent a lengthy floor session debating S.244, a bill described by its sponsor as an overhaul of civil‑claims, tort and insurance rules intended to reduce liability exposure and slow rising premium costs.

Supporters, led on the floor by the senator from Edgefield, said the measure would make defendants pay only for the share of harm they caused, limit exposure to "empty chair" allocations to parties beyond the courtroom's reach, tighten several insurance‑practice rules and address repeated losses that they say have driven up premiums for restaurants, contractors and truckers.

Opponents, including senators from Williamsburg, Greenwood, Richland and Cherokee, warned the measure would shift losses to injured people, give insurers new ways to avoid payouts and create new administrative obstacles for plaintiffs. They raised particular concern about provisions that would (a) let juries allocate fault to non‑parties who were not before the court, (b) preserve the 51% threshold in comparative‑fault rules while removing joint‑and‑several liability, and (c) change when a claimant may pursue bad‑faith claims against an insurer.

Senator from Edgefield said the bill would correct what he described as an unfair burden that forces some defendants and small businesses to pay more than their pro rata share. "I should pay for what I cause. I should not pay for what someone else causes," he told colleagues…