South Carolina business insurance: requirements and costs

In South Carolina, workers' comp is mandatory once an employer regularly has four employees in the same business, unless prior-year payroll was under $3,000.⁠¹ A general contractor can owe benefits to an uninsured subcontractor's workers even if the sub has fewer than four.⁠¹ Act 42 of 2025 rewrote the state's joint-and-several liability rules for claims arising on or after January 1, 2026, and it also sets liquor liability insurance floors for bars and restaurants.⁠⁴

Checked against 8 sources Last reviewed 13 Oct 2026 How we check figures

South Carolina at a glance

Workers’ comp required	4+ regular employees (unless prior-year payroll under $3,000)
Where employers buy it	Private insurers
Rates set by	National Council on Compensation Insurance
Employer comp cost, 2023	$1.16 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024	$1.03, ranked 29 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025	$8,552 single, $25,046 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum	25/50/25

South Carolina has no competitive state fund. Employers buy comp from a licensed insurer, join a group self-insurance fund, or prove to the Workers' Compensation Commission that they can pay claims directly and post security.⁠² The Commission supervises group self-insurers and can fine an employer that fails to secure coverage.⁠² Pricing starts from NCCI loss costs for the voluntary market. For the assigned-risk plan, the Department of Insurance orders a loss cost multiplier that is applied to the voluntary loss costs. In the Department's April 1, 2018 order, NCCI's overall loss-cost change was -7.0%, and the order stated that these were loss costs and not final rates.⁠⁸ We could not find a later South Carolina loss-cost order on the Department's site, so this page does not state a current approved rate change. Ask your carrier for the loss cost and multiplier behind your class code.

The official cost data place South Carolina above the national figure but falling. NASI estimates that employers spent $1.16 per $100 of covered wages on comp in 2023, down from $1.39 in 2019. By our calculation that is a 17% drop, and the 2023 figure is about 18% above the national $0.98.⁠⁵ Oregon's 2024 ranking, based on manual rates in effect January 1, 2024, puts South Carolina 29th most expensive of 51 jurisdictions at an index of $1.03 per $100 of payroll, 94% of the median. Georgia, the median state, is $1.09, and North Carolina is 33rd at $0.95.⁠⁶ The two measures can differ because NASI measures what employers actually spent, including self-insurance, and Oregon prices the same 50 classes at each state's published rates. Small employers face a thin health market. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, 21.2% of South Carolina private-sector establishments in firms under 50 employees offered coverage, against 32.1% nationally. Where they did, the average single premium was $9,020, close to the $9,034 small-firm national figure, with employees paying $1,881 against $1,924.⁠⁷

Two rules do more to change what South Carolina businesses carry than the comp threshold. First, under Act 42 a defendant found less than 50% at fault for indivisible damages pays only its own share. The Act keeps full joint liability for wilful, wanton, reckless or intentional conduct, and it applies to claims arising or accruing after January 1, 2026.⁠⁴ This affects how general liability insurers value a claim against a business that is only partly to blame. Second, any licensee selling alcohol for on-premises consumption after 5 p.m. must carry liquor liability. Act 42 sets a $1 million annual aggregate limit but lets qualifying venues reduce it, down to a floor of $300,000.⁠⁴ For an employer, the working steps are to count regular employees against the four-person trigger, to collect certificates of insurance from every subcontractor before work starts, and to check whether the venue qualifies for any liquor liability reduction.⁠¹⁠⁴

Workers’ compensation in South Carolina

An employer that regularly employs four or more people in the same business in South Carolina must provide comp. The statute exempts an employer with fewer than four regular employees or a prior-year payroll under $3,000, but such an employer can opt in by filing written notice with the Commission, effective 30 days later.⁠¹ An owner or contractor that sublets part of its work is liable for the subcontractor's workers as if it employed them directly.⁠¹

Who is exempt

Employers with fewer than four regular employees in the same business, or total payroll under $3,000 in the previous calendar year
Casual employees
Agricultural employees, unless the employer elects coverage
State and county fair associations, unless they elect coverage
Railroads, railway express companies and their employees
Commission sellers of agricultural products for a producer
Licensed real estate salespersons on straight commission under a signed independent contractor agreement
Federal employees in the state
Owner-operators of a truck or tractor-trailer who provide the vehicle and their driving to a motor carrier under an independent contractor contract meeting the statute's conditions
Sole proprietors and partners are not required to be covered but may elect to be included, if actively engaged in the business and the insurer is notified. A corporate officer may elect not to operate under the Act and then must sue at common law

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers buy comp from an authorized insurer or a mutual association of employers, or self-insure by proving financial ability to the Workers' Compensation Commission and posting security. Two or more employers in similar businesses can pool as a group self-insurer under Commission rules.⁠²

Individual self-insurance requires satisfactory proof of financial ability to pay compensation and an acceptable security, indemnity or bond deposited with the Commission. Group self-insurance funds of similar businesses are allowed and fall under the Commission's exclusive jurisdiction.⁠²

Penalties for going without

An employer that refuses or neglects to secure comp is fined $1 per employee for each day, but not less than $10 or more than $100 a day (by our calculation, the daily fine reaches the cap at 100 employees). It is also liable to the injured employee for compensation or in a damages suit in which it cannot use the common-law defenses.⁠² Wilful refusal is a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 to $1,000 fine, 30 days to 6 months in jail, or both.⁠²

What South Carolina employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
Year	South Carolina	United States
2019	$1.39	$1.17
2020	$1.35	$1.08
2021	$1.23	$1.01
2022	$1.21	$1.00
2023	$1.16	$0.98

Employer cost per $100 of covered wages: premiums paid by insured employers plus benefits and administrative costs of self-insured employers, divided by the wages of workers covered by workers’ compensation. The United States figure is NASI’s national total, which includes federal programs. Source: National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), published 11 Aug 2026.

Oregon’s biennial comparison of workers’ comp rates puts South Carolina’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $1.03 per $100 of payroll, 6% below the national median of $1.09 (rank 29 of 51, where 1 is the most expensive). The index prices the same 50 risk classes, weighted by Oregon payroll, in every state, so it compares rate levels rather than what employers actually pay. Compare every state.

Employer health insurance in South Carolina

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
Measure	South Carolina	Firms under 50	United States
Single coverage, total premium	$8,552	$9,020	$9,025
Family coverage, total premium	$25,046	$23,531	$26,281
Employee share, single	$1,814	–	$1,817
Employers offering coverage	41.5%	21.2%	49.2%

Average total annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector establishments that offer health insurance; the offer rate is the share of establishments offering coverage. Small firms have fewer than 50 employees. Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, 2025 survey year. All states.

Commercial auto in South Carolina

Every vehicle registered in South Carolina, including business vehicles, must carry at least 25/50/25 in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

Each motor vehicle must carry $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 property damage liability. Uninsured motorist coverage must be offered at no less than those limits plus $25,000 for the insured's property, which may carry a $200 exclusion.⁠³ South Carolina is not a no-fault state and requires no PIP. The limits have applied to policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2007, and no change appears in the current Code. We did not find separate commercial-vehicle minimums in this chapter.

Trucks and buses used in interstate commerce must also meet federal minimums of $750,000 to $5 million: see commercial auto minimums and what commercial auto costs.

Other South Carolina rules that affect insurance costs

Contractors are on the hook for uninsured subs

An owner who sublets part of its own trade, and a contractor who sublets work it has contracted to do, must pay any compensation the subcontractor's workers would be owed if they were its own employees.⁠¹ If a sub represented that it had coverage and the contractor collected insurance documentation on a standard form when it hired the sub, the higher-tier party is relieved of liability except that it must pay benefits first and can petition the Commission to shift continuing benefits to the Uninsured Employers' Fund. This applies regardless of the sub's headcount. Falsifying the documentation, or failing to notify of a lapse within five days, is fraud and risks revocation of a contractor's license.⁠¹

Act 42 joint-and-several reform (claims after Jan. 1, 2026)

A defendant whose conduct is less than 50% of the total fault, counting the plaintiff's own fault, is liable only for its percentage of indivisible damages. The rule does not protect wilful, wanton, reckless or intentional conduct or conduct involving illegal drug use, sale or possession. A nondefendant at fault can be put on the verdict form if disclosed within 180 days of the suit, with exceptions for strict liability and asbestos claims.⁠⁴ The Act took effect January 1, 2026, and applies only to causes of action or claims arising or accruing after that date, so older claims keep the prior rule.⁠⁴

Liquor liability floors for venues open after 5 p.m.

Under section 61-2-145 as amended, a licensee selling alcohol for on-premises consumption that stays open after 5 p.m. must hold liquor liability, or general liability with a liquor endorsement, with an annual aggregate limit of at least $1 million, with at least 50% of the aggregate per occurrence. Qualifying measures reduce the limit: closing alcohol service by midnight (minus $250,000); server training within 60 days of hire, under 40% of sales from alcohol, or a forensic ID system at night (minus $100,000 each); nonprofit or single-event licensees (minus $500,000). The limit cannot fall below $300,000. Lapse is grounds for suspending or revoking the license, and insurers must notify the licensing department of a lapse or termination within 30 days.⁠⁴

South Carolina compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, South Carolina and neighboring states

South Carolina	$1.16	$1.03	$8,552
Georgia	$0.82	$1.09	$8,907
North Carolina	$0.62	$0.95	$8,612

Sources

1
South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code Title 42, Chapter 1 (Workers' Compensation, general provisions) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2
South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code Title 42, Chapter 5 (Workers' Compensation, insurance and self-insurance) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3
South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code Title 38, Chapter 77 (Motor vehicle insurance) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4
South Carolina Legislature, H. 3430 (Act No. 42 of 2025): tort reform and liquor liability Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5
National Academy of Social Insurance, Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Costs, and Coverage, 2023 Data (Table 14) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6
Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, 2024 Oregon Workers' Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component 2025, private-sector data by State Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8
South Carolina Department of Insurance, Notice of a Filing and Corrective Action Order (NCCI loss costs effective April 1, 2018) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

National figures: NASI (employer comp costs), Oregon DCBS (rate index), AHRQ MEPS-IC (health premiums).

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