After a Crash in South Carolina — Official Resources
This is general information, not legal advice.
South Carolina hands you homework at the scene. The officer gives you a green FR-10 insurance verification form, and it is your job to get your insurer to complete it and return it to the SCDMV within 15 days — miss that and the DMV can treat the vehicle as uninsured and suspend your license and registration. Separately, if no officer investigated and the crash caused injury, death, or total property damage of $1,000 or more, the driver or owner must send the FR-309 Traffic Collision Report to SCDMV Financial Responsibility within 15 days (S.C. Code §56-5-1270) — and failing to do so is prima facie evidence that the vehicle was uninsured. Collision reports (form TR-310) are requested from SCDMV using form FR-50 for about $6. Free help: SC Bar Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-868-2284 or (803) 799-7100, $50 for a 30-minute consultation.
Most states let you leave a crash scene with nothing to do but call your insurer. South Carolina is different: the trooper hands you a green form, and the clock on it starts immediately. Two separate 15-day deadlines run in this state — one about proving you were insured, one about reporting the crash at all when nobody investigated — and both are enforced by taking your license. Those are the first two cards. The first-steps checklist covers saving your dashcam clip before the camera loops.
The FR-10 — 15 days
The FR-10 is South Carolina’s mandatory insurance verification form, and it is unusual: the responding officer fills in part of it and hands it to you at the scene. The rest is completed by your insurance company, which returns it to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles — and per the South Carolina Highway Patrol, if you lost yours, you contact the troop office where the collision happened for a replacement.
You have 15 days. Take it to your insurer immediately rather than filing it in the glovebox, because the practical failure mode is not refusing to do it — it is forgetting, or assuming the insurance company already handled it. Confirm with your carrier that it actually went to the DMV.
The consequence is not a fine. Without that verification, the DMV can treat your vehicle as uninsured and suspend your driver license and registration until you prove coverage, with reinstatement fees to get back on the road. It applies to every driver involved, regardless of fault.
Report the crash
Call police. South Carolina requires immediate notice to the local police department if the crash happened in a municipality, or otherwise to the county sheriff or the nearest Highway Patrol office, when there is injury, death, or total property damage of $1,000 or more. When an officer responds and investigates, that generally satisfies the reporting duty.
When nobody investigates, it falls to you. The SCDPS collision report form states the rule directly: under S.C. Code §56-5-1270, the driver or owner of a vehicle involved in a crash not investigated by law enforcement resulting in total property damage of $1,000 or more, or death or bodily injury, must complete and send form FR-309 to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Financial Responsibility, P.O. Box 1498, Blythewood, SC 29016-0040, within 15 days of the collision.
And the sting in that statute: failure to forward the report properly verified as to liability insurance coverage is prima facie evidence that the vehicle was uninsured. That presumption can be rebutted with proof of coverage, but it is far easier to file on time than to argue your way out afterward.
Get the collision report
South Carolina calls it a collision report, form TR-310, and the SCDMV holds them — including reports written by the Highway Patrol, county sheriffs, and city police. Request one using form FR-50, the Request for Collision Report, submitted online, by mail, or in person at an SCDMV branch. The fee is about $6, payable by check or money order if you mail it.
Reports are typically available 3–10 business days after the crash. Have the collision date, location, and the case number the officer gave you. If a city police department handled it, that agency’s records division may be able to provide a copy sooner than the state.
Hit-and-run
Call police immediately — and understand how a fled driver interacts with South Carolina’s two forms. If an officer responds, you should still receive an FR-10, and that 15-day insurance verification clock runs for you regardless of who caused the crash or whether they were ever found. If no officer responds and the damage clears $1,000, the FR-309 is yours to file inside the same 15 days.
Save your clip and note the time and location while they’re exact; the plate your camera caught is what gives troopers a starting point. Uninsured-motorist coverage on your own policy is the usual route to payment when the driver is never identified — South Carolina requires it on every policy — and its hit-and-run notice deadline is often shorter than the fifteen days you are already tracking.
Find a lawyer
The South Carolina Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service refers statewide based on your location and the kind of case, and the participating lawyers must be in good standing and carry malpractice insurance. Per the South Carolina Attorney General’s office, the fee is $50 for a 30-minute consultation. Call 1-800-868-2284 or (803) 799-7100.
The same Bar office can point you to legal aid guidelines if the referral fee itself is out of reach — ask when you call rather than assuming you don’t qualify.
Free legal help
The South Carolina Bar maintains a Get Legal Help section covering how to find a lawyer, legal aid options, and answers to common civil legal questions — the same place the Attorney General’s office directs people who need free or reduced-cost representation.
For income-qualified civil legal aid, LawHelp.org routes to the South Carolina programs serving your county. If your problem is with a car dealer, repair shop, or a vehicle purchase rather than the crash itself, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs handles that separately at (800) 922-1594.
Insurance problems
The South Carolina Department of Insurance runs a Consumer Services division that handles auto insurance questions and complaints and lets you check the license status of any insurer or agency. You can reach its current complaint channels through the national directory of state insurance departments.
A specific reason to call them here: if your insurer is slow to complete and return your FR-10, that is not just an annoyance — it is your license on the line, and the fifteen days do not pause while a carrier takes its time.
Uninsured when it happened? South Carolina’s entire post-crash structure is built around insurance verification, so the gap will surface through the FR-10 or FR-309 either way, and non-filing carries its own penalties on top. File what is required, then use the Bar’s legal aid guidance for what follows.
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Dashwatcher is a dashcam company, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for a licensed attorney. Reporting rules, deadlines, and programs differ by state and change over time; verify everything with the official source before you rely on it. Links go to government agencies, bar associations, and nonprofits. Dashwatcher receives no payment from any organization listed.
From the team at Dashwatcher.
Last verified: August 4, 2026